


Secrets Revealed

by ROEZ93



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Decision Making, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fanfiction, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Scares, Pregnant Sex, Sex, Unplanned Pregnancy, Vaginal Sex, emotional discontent, fear for the truth, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:16:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28561173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ROEZ93/pseuds/ROEZ93
Summary: Married for almost ten years, but living far from each other. Delia is sure that her husband is a good man, and a wonderful gym leader. Giovanni hides the dark side of him from his family. What will happen when his wife finds out about his real work? How Delia will face the truth when she finds herself pregnant again and in the middle of a Team Rocket mess.
Relationships: Hanako | Delia Ketchum/Sakaki | Giovanni
Kudos: 21





	1. Viridian City

**Author's Note:**

> I initially started this story in October 2017 at Fanfintion, it was very simple back then, and I didn't finish it due to the loss of my father. In 2019 I updated the chapters (it was in Spanish first) this year I want to finish it and launch my account here with it.

Chapter 1. Viridian City.

Delia admired the view of the great Viridian city, it was a very different place than what she was used to in Pallet Town, the streets were full of people, there were many shops and tall buildings. It had been a long time since she had visited the city and she seemed to her that it was busier than usual. There were a few hours left before she was going to get dark, and Delia was walking leisurely through one of the busiest streets, although she knew she had to hurry if she wanted to go back home that day.

Delia Ketchum had lived all her life in Pallet Town, a small place in the middle of the countryside with only a few settlers. The intrepid girl that she used to be, she liked to explore the surrounding forests always ready to find a new adventure and learn about pokemon. With her there was always a little boy with glasses and brown hair, with happy eyes and a sparkling personality. His name was Samuel Oak, and he was the son of the respected pokemon researcher from whom he had inherited his name. The two of them scampered the hills of Pallet Town with delight and got into trouble from time to time. Sometimes they would end up with knees peeleds from climbing trees or crawling after some pokemon.

Samuel had always been through thick and thin with his friend, even at the darkest moment in Delia's childhood, when her father died. Albert Ketchum had been a loving and dedicated father, as a young man he had dreamed of being a pokemon trainer, but gave up that dream to take charge of the family farm, being an only child, he felt responsible. However, he liked to continually visit Professor Oak to find out about his researchs and help him with the pokemon he had on his own farm. Delia had inherited from Albert her love for them and her curiosity to see beyond Pallet Town, so when the poor man died of a heart attack while plowing the ground, she was devastated.

  
"Hey, Delia, Delia...”

  
The little girl, barely eleven years old, got out of bed and leaned out the window, she could then see her friend Samuel, and she hurried to open it. The boy was with his hands in the bags of the sweatshirt and he was looking at her smiling, the moonlight was reflected in his glasses and she back at him the look. He said:

  
"Come down, let's go for a walk."

  
"Wait a minute"

  
The girl closed the window and ran for her coat, went out into the hall with great care not to wake her mother who was sleeping in the other room and left the house almost on tiptoe. When they were together he hugged her and handed her a small pink box.

  
"Take it is a present for you"

  
"Why? It is not my birthday" She looked at him confused.

  
Samuel laughed and pulled her with him to start walking, the night was cool and a light air slipped through them hair, the stars above adorned the night and the moon illuminated them.

  
"In any case, don't open it until you get home. How have you felt?"

"I'm better, I think Mom is the one who has the worst, she is going to sell the farm"

  
"Why? What happened?" Asked Samuel very concerned.

  
"Mom said we can't take over of it be alone, she will sell it to buy a small house and save money, she says now we must adapt to life without Dad."

  
"I see, and how do you feel about that?"

  
"Dad never really loved the farm, he wanted to be a pokemon trainer and travel the world so I think it's okay"

  
Delia intertwine her arm with Samuel's and rest her head into him as she had done many times before.

  
"Maybe you could make that dream come true for him, let's leave this town and live for the pokemon, I've always wanted to be a researcher like dad, but I would like to be more of an adventurer, be in the field, see with my own eyes. We could travel together, meet and learn about pokemon ". The emotion in his voice gave him away as a dreamer, Delia had heard that same tone in her father when he told her about his dreams and felt a warm sensation in her chest.

  
"It's a nice dream Sammy, but I don't think I can go away from my mother, she only has me, I couldn't leave her alone"

  
The boy's face grew discouraged, but he quickly returned the smile to his face. He knew Delia adored her mother and had no right to keep away them. He stopped and held her face in his hands. She was looking at him with her chocolate eyes that sparkled with the moon. Her skin was soft and smooth, Samuel's cold fingers made her shiver from it and he pulled away from her.

  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you"

  
"You didn't," she answered, taking him by the hands.

  
Suddenly it was as if time had stopped, the air was no longer running and no noise was heard. Samuel approached her and kissed her fleetingly, Delia closed her eyes and kept the moment in her heart. They parted to see themselves reflected in each other's eyes. The young Samuel Oak blushed and even at night she noticed it, a smile settled on her face causing him to turn ashamed and start walking towards the way back to Delia's house, she reached him and hugged him, he shyly put his arm around her shoulders.

A few days later, the farm had been sold and mother and daughter moved into a small but cozy white house on the edge of the main road in Pallet Town, now living closer to everyone. Soon the years passed and both boys grew up. When he turned sixteen, Sammy, as Delia called him, still had the dream of leaving Pallet Town. He had long ago started studying pokemon with his father and now he wanted to satisfy his curiosity for them, out of there. Travel the world, meet different pokemon and trainers. However, he still wanted Delia to accompany him and hoped that she would accept. That's why he wanted to ask her one more time.

One of the things they enjoyed the most was walking around and this time like many times the night had caught them chatting placidly sitting on the grass.

  
"Delia, do you want to come with me?" The boy stretched out his hand and touched the cheek of his partner who was looking at him thoughtfully.

  
The young could not help thinking of her mother, who knew she was a strong and capable woman. Since she had done everything possible to provide and take care of her all that time. And although it was one of her dreams to go out to see the world as her father once wanted, the same principles of family morality that made him give up, made her refuse to go with Samuel.

  
Standing up and with the surprised look of the boy that she adored with all her heart, she said:

  
“Sorry Sammy, I can't go...”

The brown-haired boy jumped to his feet and took her by the hands. They stared at each other for a moment and pressed their foreheads together.

"You must follow your heart Delia, allow yourself to be happy, please come with me ..."

  
She raised her face and looked into his eyes, with a brittle voice and shaking hands she said:

  
"Fulfill our dreams for the two of Sammy ..."

  
Delia stood on tiptoe and kissed him, when they parted she could see the tears that were beginning to pool in his eyes. She removed from her neck a necklace that he had given her after the death of her father and handed it to him.

"Delia… I…"

  
"Don't say anything Sammy, we both know it's for the best" She hug him one last time and ran out of there.

  
Samuel Oak, son, watched his best friend and confidante leave and couldn't follow her. He knew that if he did it it would be painful for both of them, Delia would not want him to stay for her and lose his dreams like her father had. So he put the necklace in his pants pocket and he started walking to the opposite side, the pain in his chest was strong, but he knew it would pass. He would fulfill his dreams for both of them.

The next morning Samuel Oak left Pallet Town and Delia was devastated once again. The mother was afflicted by her daughter who had spent a few days locked in her room, she decided went to see Professor Oak, who had been a faithful friend of the family and who always supported them in whatever way he could. The professor was extremely fond of the Ketchum women whom he saw as family because of the time they knew each other and the affection he felt for the late Albert Ketchum.  
They both agreed that Delia would start working with the professor, supporting him with his research, and with some work on the farm. The girl was excited and little by little she came out of her self-absorption, she began to have joy on her face again. Being with the professor she learned a lot about pokemon and had news about Sammy who was traveling the world. The boy sent her some letters to inform Delia of his travels and she enthusiastically read them. She so she found out that he had entered the 'Indigo Plateau Conference' but he had only been among the best 32 of the tournament. He also told her that he had met some trainers while he was traveling through Kanto, they were very strong boys and great pokemon masters. They had been told him about the Johto region and he was excited to go there. So the years passed, Sammy continued to travel the world learning more about pokemon and studying them, he had published a book on evolution and was already gaining recognition among the greats of pokemon research. Delia was still in Pallet Town helping the professor, but she still felt a little sad from time to time. Sammy's letters were decreasing and the last she knew was that he had found a girl who also studied pokemon and that now they traveled together. Delia knew that he deserved to be happy and to find someone that shared and wanted to live her dreams with him.

One morning as she was getting ready to go see Professor Oak, her mother called her from the kitchen. The eighteen-year-old was surprised to find her mother standing by the small kitchen table. There was a backpack and a pokeball on the table.

  
"Mom?", She asked, confused.

  
"My little girl, a long time ago your father told me about his dream of traveling the world, I always thought that he could have been a great trainer… That's why I want you to go Delia… Keep his dream live with you"

  
"But mom..."

  
"No Delia", the mother interrupted her while she hugged her, "don't stay here for me, I know you have dreams, and I can't just let you put them aside for me, go Delia, follow the path that your father wanted walk"

  
The girl began to cry and her mother hugged her tightly. She gave her a sweet kiss on her cheek and handed her the pokeball that Professor Oak had sent her. This is how Delia Ketchum's journey would begin.

At last she was underway to the dream she wanted to achieve, she had determination, youth and a great vitality that spread to others. Her first tours took her to Viridian City at that time she felt free and happy, she had left her small town to travel the world, meet new people and learn about pokemon. However, her stay in Viridian City would mark her life.  
Delia could hear the furious Houndours behind her, she was running as fast as she could, in her arms she had a small and scared Pichu that had been hurt by those pokemon. She had seen them chase him through the streets of Viridian City when she arrived and she didn't think twice to help him, even though she couldn't use the pokemon that Professor Oak had given her becuase was weakened. She entered a large park with lush trees to try to lose the Houndours however, she had only ended up caught, the three pokemon surrounded her growling and showing their furious teeth, the Pichu in her arms was trembling with fear, she felt that her legs were shaking the same. Delia closed her eyes when she thought that no one would come to help.

  
"Payday", The voice was loud, but calm.

  
A Persian jumped forward and hit the three stunned Houndours at the same time, one of them lunged at the feline pokemon.

  
"Avoid it and use headbutt"

  
The mysterious trainer yelled with an outstretched arm pointing at the target. The pokemon with the jewel on its head moved great speed and landed a strong blow against the Houndour that was left lying, the other two began to flee leaving the wounded pokemon behind. Delia was impressed. Who had helped her? She could not see her savior well, the light of a park lamp blinded her. A pokeball was thrown against the Houndour who did not fight any more.

  
"Thank you," Delia said, holding the Pichu.

  
"You must be more careful," an eyes dark as night looked at her .

  
Delia could finally see her savior, and he was a strong-looking young man, wearing black pants and a white shirt under a black vest. His features were sharp and his eyes were deep and dark, he had short black hair, and an unflappable presence. The girl had never met someone like him. He was very different from the loud and cheerful Sammy she meets.

  
"My name is Delia Ketchum," she said, holding out her hand with a big smile.

"I'm Giovanni"

  
He responded by looking directly into her eyes, he noticed in them a peculiar shine that he did not know. He didn't even realize that he had already spent time holding her hand. Delia looked at clasped hands and smiled at him, causing Giovanni to immediately let go of her, with blushing. The boy turned his back to her, she blinked for a moment, and thought he was very cute behind that harsh image.

  
"Could you tell me where the pokemon center is? This poor Pichu needs medical attention and I have another pokemon in my backpack that is weakened"

  
He began to walk followed by his Persian that from time to time rubbing against he.

  
"Follow me", Delia hear him say calmly.

  
He guided her to the doors of the pokemon center where he said goodbye to her.

  
"If you need help again, find me at the Viridian gym"

  
"In your free time, do you usually help girls in distress?" She commented smiling.

  
"You were the first, actually," he said as a slight nervous smile crossed his face.

That day she had met the recent new leader of Viridian gym, who was only twenty-one years old; not only had he saved her from the Houndour, but it would take her down a path that she did not think she would travel again, that of her love. The girl decided to stay in the city for a few days to meet her. The Pichu that she had helped was recovered and was now part of her pokemon team.

  
As she walked the streets of Viridian she looked at a poster above the gym in town which reminded her of the boy she had met just two days before when she arrived. The poster invited all the trainers to visit that place and try to win a medal from their strong gym leader. Then she Delia thought that maybe that boy was training there and she wanted to go see him.When Delia reached the imposing building she realized that there were many trainers wanting to enter there was a huge line at the entrance and two guards at the front door. They told her that if she wanted to enter she should wait for her turn. Delia didn't want to compete, she just wanted to see Giovanni so she slipped through an emergency exit. She had always been daring and this would be no exception. The emergency exit placed her in a long corridor that she followed carefully not to be discovered. She heard the voices of some people and she hid behind some wooden boxes. Delia walked some more and ended up in the battle area of the gym. The place was lonely and it was huge. Delia could not help being surprised and raised her face looking impressed at the place, it had a Roman touch that she loved. She was suddenlywas taken out of her thoughts when a familiar voice was heard from the back of the room.

  
"I thought I would never see you again," said the gym leader, getting up from his seat.

  
"Giovanni?" She asked surprised her looking at him standing and with a pokeball in his hand.

  
She watched him leap like a Persian from where he was, and she thought he was too skilled.

  
"Are you coming for a pokemon battle Delia?"

  
"Are you the gym leader?", She asked excitedly.

  
"Since a few weeks," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

  
"You are very young, I suppose you are also very strong too"

"I have worked hard for this"

  
"I find it surprising, but I am not come for a duel, I just wanted to see you I did not think you would be the leader of the gym!" She blushed a little.

  
"So, as you're my guest let's share lunch. The gym will be closed for a few hours. Come on, let's go"

  
Delia followed him and led her to the top of the gym where he had a small wooden table, chairs, and many books. There were huge pots with trees and many other plants. And they had a wonderful view of the city.

  
"Sit down" Giovanni told her, bringing a chair for she.

  
Giovanni took off the jacket from his slate gray suit and placed it on the back of his chair. Delia watched him pull his pale blue shirt up to her elbows and she smiled as she saw him move like an excited child around the place looking for something.

  
"Thank you", she said watching him take out some sandwiches and fruits from a basket.

  
"I like to come here to eat and to think about my free time, it's a good place"

  
"You has an amazing sight" Delia took a sandwich and a juice box.

  
"Forgive the simplicity of the lunch, didn't know I would have company, I don't usually bring anyone here."

  
"I am honored then, thank you for the lunch, it is very delicious"

  
Delia realized that Giovanni was a simple man and dedicated to his work. It was not at all like she thought he would be when she first met him, with that unflappable presence and cold gaze from him. The gym leader sat down to eat with her, he didn't have many friends and was always into books learning about pokemon or striving to be a better trainer. However, be related with people was never something of importance to the young man. But he had seen something in Delia's eyes the night he met her that it had caught a lot of attention from and he wanted to see more of it.

  
"You're not from around here, right?"

  
"No, I come from Pallet Town, a small place on Route 1, to the north”

  
"So you are starting your pokemon journey?", Giovanni asked leaning his chair back on hind legs swaying.

  
"I think so, although it may be a bit late", she said sadly.

  
"It's never too late to do what you like"

  
"I imagine you started as a child, right?"

  
"It was a long time ago, yes. But hey, maybe I can teach you a thing or two before you leave…"

  
"That would be fabulous", she said, standing up to go hug him.

  
Giovanni hadn't expected that show of affection from her and he didn't know how to react, but when he felt Delia's warm body next to him, a strange sensation from took hold of him and he also hugged her.

After that Delia began to visit the gym to see Giovanni, they spent entire afternoons chatting about what they liked, about their pokemon and anything that would lengthen the conversations so that they could be together. Delia learned a lot about pokemon battles and about the care she was to give her pokemon. At that time she realized that Giovanni was a very different man with her than he was with others, always being reserved and quiet, with her he was attentive and affectionate. He was certainly a very different man from others she had known. She also realized that she had not thought about Sammy for a long time and that she felt very happy when she was with the gym leader, that she enjoyed chatting with him for hours, sharing lunch or dinner and when he reading her about his favorite pokemon, ground type.

  
Inadvertently she had spent a month in Viridian City and it was time for her to continue her journey. Although she was no longer quite sure she wanted to continue with that. She found Giovanni like many other times on the roof of the gym. It was afternoon and the yellowish sun was beginning to set. Delia looked at the gym leader from behind, the jacket of his suit was unbuttoned and it was flapping with the afternoon air. His hair, always neat and well combed, was also in disarray dancing with the wind. Delia felt her heart begin to beat rapidly and she approached him, surprising him.

  
"Giovanni", she said hugging him.

  
"I was waiting for you" Giovanni hugged her affectionately.

  
They both looked to the horizon watching the sunset. She was there to say goodbye and he knew it. It was time to say goodbye.

  
"Tomorrow I must go ..." she finally said.

  
"I know, you must go your way ... though ..." he was silent for a moment.

  
"What?" She asked.

  
They stayed still, they could hear the other breathing. Giovanni knew that he didn't want to let her go, but also that he couldn't make her stay for him. So he took her by the hands and leaned over her. And he kissed her, it was a very different kiss from any other that she had shared with Sammy. In it there was passion and strength, he clung to her like someone who was stranded at sea and finds the land at last. When they separated they looked at each other's faces, Delia's eyes reflected Giovanni's face. He looked like a grieving child who had just lost something important.

  
"I love you Delia"

  
Not even Giovanni expected that. He had said it without thinking, without pondering what he said. She looked at him smiling. With her heart wanting to get out of her chest. Delia had never told Sammy that she loved him, although she regarded him as hers first love, and he just limited himself to always telling her that he likes her. The young lady then knew that if she had loved someone until now it was this man in front of her this man who was looking at her flushed.

  
"I love you too Giovanni", she told him, hugging him.

  
After that they had spent the night together, Delia had chosen Giovanni as her first. They shared the sweet taste of love. And between kisses and caresses they dedicated words and promises as strong as the ties that now united them.

The next day, Delia left Viridian City saying goodbye to Giovanni and a chapter in her life that had filled her with joy and love. A few months later she would return to meet him again who was waiting for her with open arms. So Giovanni asked her to get married and she gladly accepted. Their married life had started like that of many others full of excitement for the future and a house full of love. Even so, there were things to know about the other, Delia knew little about the family of her now husband, because he did not share much with her, he only told her that he had had a very lonely childhood as an only child and that his father had died as Giovanni a little boy.  
His mother was still alive somewhere, but he told her they weren't very close. Which Delia found very sad. Even so, they both had a lot of time to love and understand each other.


	2. Meet Again

Chapter 2. Meet Again.

When Delia married Giovanni, she stayed with him in an apartment he had in Viridian city. It was a very beautiful and large place, she was sure that that place had been very expensive and although she knew that the work of a gym leader did not make him rich, she did not ask anything.

Giovanni, knowing that this could generate doubts in his wife, told her that his mother was a very successful businesswoman and that many of her businesses were in Viridian city. That he took care of them because the woman left them to him when she went to live in another region, but they rarely communicated. This explanation was enough then for the sweet wife of the gym leader, who liked to visit her small town to see her mother. Every time she did, she felt that she should come back. Viridian's city was beautiful and full of possibilities, but she had always liked her little house better in her town.

When she was in Pallet Town helping her mother with dinner and with Giovanni sitting in the garden reading or taking care of Persian. As the cool country air crept in through the windows and she could hear the pidgeys sing, Delia felt completely happy. It brought back beautiful memories of her childhood and made her happy. But when her mother died Delia felt too depressed, she knew that no one would wait for her in Pueblo Paleta with open arms and a delicious meal to enjoy as a family. She knew that her children would no longer be able to enjoy the country air and the pampering of a loving grandmother, that made her seriously think about the way she wanted to raise her children and the city did not seem ideal for it so she discussed the issue with her husband.

"Understand me Delia I can't just move to Pallet Town, I have to take care of the gym and my business here ..."

"I know I'm asking you a lot, Gio, I just wanted ..."

She suddenly felt overwhelmed by her emotions, she knew she was asking too much with that. She understood very well what he was saying to her, but she still refused to accept it. Giovanni approached her and wrapped his arms around her, she supported her face on his chest.

"I understand that Pallet Town means a lot to you. And I know that your mother's death has made you want to go back there, and my dear, I don't want you to feel that you are here tied to Viridian City by me"

"Oh no, of course I don't feel it that way Giovanni", she said in a hurry to get any wrong thoughts out of the head of the gym leader, "I know how much everything you've accomplished has cost you dear ..."

Giovanni kissed his wife's forehead, gave her a warm smile, and said:

"How about we spend the weekend there?"

Delia's eyes lit up with joy and she hugged him.

On that weekend Delia met Sammy again who was very changed, he was now taller, his hair was now short and he no longer wore his glasses. Bumping into him in Pallet Town was a surprise, even more so to learn that he had returned to stay permanently since he would be in charge with his father of some very important research for the scientific community. Delia still remembered the moment as if it had been yesterday because of Sammy's reaction when he found out that she had married Giovanni, the Viridian City gym leader. They were at a small party, which Professor Oak hosted to welcome his son back. They had been at the party for a while, where she greeted some people from the town and shared with Giovanni about the tasks she used to do there with Sammy's father. When the researcher's son finally showed up, he was surprised to see her so changed, she was a beautiful woman. But his gaze also focused on the unfriendly-faced man beside her. He came over to greet her with a smile on his face.

"Delia, Delia Ketchum", He said as he took her hand and hugged her. Giovanni narrowed his eyes in annoyance at the effusive apparition.

"Sammy!", Delia yelled as she laughed with her old friend.

When they separated she went to her husband's side. She took him by the hand and led him toward Sammy.

"May I introduce you to my husband Giovanni, he is Sammy my dear old friend ..."

The gym leader gave a slightly menacing look and a haughty smile to the young researcher, whom he didn't know about more than the few times Delia named him. But which he was not liking the old friend at all well.

The two men shook each other's hands in what seemed like a duel of strength.

"Nice to meet you," Sammy said with a hint of lies.

"The same, Delia has told me a lot about you, you are a book boy, a researcher right?", Giovanni commented haughtily.

"That's right, and you, a merchant? no?", That was said in a somewhat reckless tone, knowing that he was the leader in Viridian.

"A gym leader indeed, but I'm also a small businessman"

Delia looked at both of them and felt her energies collide. She then she decided to intervene.

"Sammy, it's been nice to see you, but we have to go home, we have some things to sort out"

Samuel Oak, son, watched her take Giovanni's hand, which wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I understand Delia, it was a pleasure to see you again, I hope we can meet before you return to Viridian"

"Oh I hope so too, there's a lot to catch up on…"

"Yes, I also want to introduce you to Sandy, my girlfriend", he said effusively, "she will come later from Celadon City"

"It will be my pleasure," Delia replied as she began to walk with Giovanni.

After meeting again Sammy they had hardly left the house as they spent it lying in bed in each other's arms. Her encounter with Samuel Oak Jr. had served Delia to settle that past with him. She no longer felt anything for Sammy other than a healthy feeling of affection for that childhood friend.

Back at Viridian, Giovanni focused on his responsibilities with the gym, occasionally sneaking out to review his business outside of his leadership job. One day he received a letter from Johto. It was a letter from his mother advising him that she was very ill and that she would soon die so she wanted to see him immediately. The future crime lord lied to his wife saying that he would have to leave, this for gym business, and that he would return as soon as he had nothing else to do in Johto. Delia did not find it suspicious as he had been absent on other occasions for work reasons.

Giovanni was greeted at the Goldenrod City airport by four well-armed escorts who took him to a luxurious building in the city center. The gym leader put on his sunglasses as he got out of the car and a very cool breeze hit his face.

"This way sir", The guard led him to the apartment of his mother who was already waiting for him.

The white-skinned, black-haired woman was sitting on a comfortable sofa. She was wearing a black dress, and a red shawl over it. She had a ventilator next to her and some IVs on her left arm.

"Mother I am here"

Giovanni leaned towards his mother who took his face in her hands and kissed him cheek gently.

"Glad to see you son"

She made a wave of her hand indicating him to sit down. He unbuttoned his black jacket and sat across from her.

"How you feel?"

"Ahh it's like I am dead already, the pain is unbearable, but that doesn't matter now, tell me how is all doing in Kanto?"

"Everything is going well, the businesses that Team Rocket manages prosper every day more"

"That's fantastic, I'm glad to know that I taught you well. And tell me how is that beautiful wife you got?" The woman looked at him and noticed how her son changed his face and relaxed.

"Delia… she is a good woman, she is kind and caring… she is very intelligent and reasonable…"

"A charm", Said the woman taking a sip of water, "I guess she doesn't know about me, or our organization, right?"

"Of course not. I've kept everything a secret"

"Giovanni, I know it's difficult for you to hide it from her, but believe me it's better this way"

The gym leader nodded. The woman was silent for a moment and then pulled out a small gift box from the nightstand next to her.

"Take it," she said, handing him the box, "Happy birthday in advance, I know there are still a few days to go, but I know I won't be there to give it to you"

Giovanni took the small black velvet box that was adorned by a red bow. He carefully opened it and pulled out a badge with a red R letter sparkly. He looked at his mother and she smiled at him.

"Congratulations new boss of Team Rocket"

Giovanni placed the insignia on his coat and his mother smiled with pleasure. That would be the beginning of a prosperous criminal career. Since he was little he had been raised with only one purpose and that was to take the reins of Team Rocket at some point, so having reached that point in his life made him feel excited and full.

His mother had raised him strictly and had seldom shown her affection. She wanted to form a strong character in him, which caused his son to think many times that he was not loved, and that he was rather one more element in his mother's organization destined to fulfill a purpose and goal . When he met Delia and related to her, he knew for the first time real affection and felt very attached to her.

The new and young head of Team Rocket had some meetings with the higher ups of his organization, his mother gave him some important reports and brought him up to date on everything that he now owned, as well as gave him some important contacts . Giovanni until then understood the monetary, political and military power that he now possessed.

After visiting his mother and being with her for a couple of days, Giovanni returned as promised to Viridian City, his wife welcomed him with a great dinner as it was the twenty-third birthday of the young gym leader. That night Delia gave him the surprise of expecting them first child. The one who would become the crime lord lifted his wife into the air and kissed her, enormously happy, the news filled him with joy.

"Are you happy my love?", The woman asked sweetly, looking at him with bright eyes.

"It has been the best gift Delia", he smiled her as he rarely did he did so with such sincerity and joy in him.

The following months had been uneventful for Delia, who spent her days at home, taking care of her garden. She loved this activity that she learned from her mother. She also liked to devour books of fantastic and funny stories. She used to cook delicious desserts driven by her pregnancy cravings and she looked forward to Giovanni coming home every day after his work to share her day with him and listen to him too. She would occasionally surprise him at the gym with a basket of food she made herself and they would have picnics on the roof. Delia liked to enjoy the sunsets from there. She always said that she loved the view of the city from the gym rooftop.

And while his wife decanted chose to choose the color of the baby's room and buy small items of clothing, Giovanni began to realize that his new responsibilities were too dangerous for his little family. He spent entire nights without sleep, just watching Delia rest quietly next to him. He wondered what he would do if she found out about everything or if something happened to her because of him. He would not be able to endure such a situation. In addition, he now was restlessness the arrival of her first-born who would undoubtedly be his Achilles heel from the moment he will arrive in the world. All the concerns and fears of the gym leader began to take their toll on him. He was tired and in a bad mood, so he was spending more time than he should in the gym and out of town with Team Rocket. He avoided showing his bad temper with his wife, that highly explosive temper that he had always been able to keep in check and now surpassed him. It was then that he decided to push the anxiety and stress out of him with his fists. He spent long hours hitting a punching bag, sweaty and agitated. His fists often ended up red and swollen, and the bandages on his hands ended up undone.

When Ash was born, Giovanni was in Celadon city to review the progress of his new casino. Another of the businesses that served as a front for his activities as a criminal leader. He had spoken with his wife who was still a few weeks away before delivery according to his doctor. Delia had told him with a smile to go away that she would be fine. A call had brought him back from Celadon within hours of arriving.

Giovanni entered the hospital room agitated by the race he made from the elevator worried about his wife and son. When he entered his gaze met Delia's who had a small bundle of blankets in her arms. She smiled warmly at him and Giovanni's feet stuck to the ground. The bright light streaming through window made her look like an angel just lowered from heaven. Her eyes were bright with energy. And he looked like they was in a fairy tale. With slow steps he approached her.

"Welcome dad", she told him, taking some of the blanket off the baby.

Giovanni felt his heart leap out of his chest and he swallowed hard. He got close enough to see between the blue blankets. And his eyes were fixed on a little brown and puffy face, with a mat of black hair like his own. Delia gave him the baby and he held him fearfully at first and then as if he were an expert. He could feel Ash's warm little body and fell completely in love with his little son when he gave him a sweet look, identical to Delia's.

"Hi Ash, I'm daddy..."

The gym leader leaned over his wife and kissed her. Then he sat next to her on the edge of the bed, allowing her to rest her head on him.

"It's perfect Delia", He took Ash's little hand in his.

"He looks like you, don't you think?"

Delia smiled and winked at him. Giovanni laughed.

"Don't say that, the boy is very cute"

"Like you darling", she told him laughing, "Look at him, frowning like daddy"

They laughed together and shared a while more in each other's company until Giovanni had to leave the room, since she would stay that night there. He said goodbye to Ash and Delia, and left the hospital, to put everything in order for the arrival of the baby the next day. As he drove home, he seriously thought about his responsibility of father. As soon as he held Ash in his arms he knew there was nothing he would not do for him. And that he would do anything to keep him safe.

Delia also thought about her duty as a mother that night, and decided that she definitely did not want to raise him in the city. So once she was at home with her son and her husband, she returned to the topic that she had already spoken with Giovanni before. She expected a refusal from him so the response she got from him surprised her.

"Sounds good to me", Giovanni looked at her calmly. There was no question in his words.

"Really Gio?", Delia asked to confirm excited.

"Of course I do, I think it's the best for Ash"

And is that for Giovanni that idea of going to Pallet Town had been the only option he found safe. He had already realized the enormous risk that Delia and Ash were exposed to in Viridian city as the leader of an impetuous organization and he was not willing to wait for someone to find out and their lives be in danger.

Giovanni had the little house in Pueblo Paleta completely remodeled as Delia wanted and they went there. But our young gym leader didn't stick with them. He returned to Viridian City a few months later, agreeing with his wife to maintain close communication and to return whenever he could. He explained that he knew they would be fine there and that he loved them. Delia did not want to discuss that, she understood that Giovanni could not leave the gym just like that and that going to Pallet Town had been a capricious hers one that he complied with. So she, holding back the pain of her husband's departure, she kissed him and watched him go. Thus they began to live a life away from the other. With a love that from a distance continued to grow stronger.

The years had passed, Giovanni visited them continuously in Pallet Town. He made sure he didn't miss any of his little one's birthday or achievement. He tried to maintain his role as husband and father as best he could. Although his role in Team Rocket was beginning to consume him. He spent months with them, but in the end he always returned to Viridian City. Ash grew up thinking of his father as a wonderful trainer and gym leader. One who strived every day to be the best.

With the passage of time, Giovanni became a cruel and ruthless man, a facet he needed to fulfill the objectives of Team Rocket, but in Pallet Town with his son and wife he was a man like any other who helped with dinner and played with his son.

So, they had come to this moment with Delia walking through the city to go see him. She was worried about the man she did not know he had become the leader of the most feared and largest criminal organization in recent times. The woman caught a glimpse of the facade of Viridian's Gym at the end of the street, she knew that there she would find her husband, and she hoped he was fine.

Viridian City's gym was renowned for being the toughest of all. It was commented was the leader on was a cold and calculating man, a complete soulless person from whom you could not easily take the Earth Badge. Indigo Plateau Conference commentators used to joke that it was like facing a wall of ice, as Giovanni was like a complete glacier. One of the commenters ventured to call him a complete ruthless. Which upset the gym leader and sent his men out for a gentle chat with the commentator who never badly mentioned the Viridian City leader's name again.

The crime lord liked to provoke in his challengers a feeling of anguish and despair, he enjoyed cornering his adversaries, making them fear for the safety of his pokemon and sometimes even his own. However, since a long time the adrenaline of a duel and the emotion that ran through his body when he had a fight in his gym had been lost, there was no longer that spark that he used to find when fighting with his pokemon, the happiness of a victory it had become routine. Now among his greatest emotions were the large sums of money that came into his hands from his business in Team Rocket, the adrenaline coursing through his veins making him feel satisfied when he remove from his path to some rival or unfortunate who annoy him.

Sometimes he himself wondered what had happened to make his ambitions change so much, Giovanni meditated on his actions continuously, he felt upset many times when the happy moments he spent with his son and wife came to his mind, chills ran down his back like tentacles of guilt at the thought of the face Delia would make if she found out about everything he had done in those years as the head of a ruthless criminal organization. Of something he was very sure was that she never must find out what he was really doing in Viridian city, he couldn't resist that the only person who had treated him with so much affection and shown that cared for him left his side.

Giovanni leaned back in his executive chair, glanced at the clock on the wall, he had been working non-stop for four hours. He had stacks of papers on his desk that seemed to multiply instead of disappearing, he sighed tiredly and turned his head to review them. The gym was closed that afternoon and there was no one but him in the whole place. He was about to start filling out some forms when the door to his office opened, and with surprise he raised his face to see his guest enter.

"Giovanni ..."

His name was said in a soft and sweet tone that he knew well, the crime lord felt a chill run up his spine and hurriedly stood up.

"Delia", he rushed to meet her, "What are you doing here?", He asked her in a tone of undeniable concern.

She looked at him like many times before with sweetness, she gave him an affectionate smile while she let herself be embraced by him.

"I needed to see you"

The woman with the chocolate eyes and brown hair answered. Giovanni took her by the hands and guided her to a comfortable sofa that was in her office, the place was wide and had a large window with a great view of the city.

"Come sit down, did you use the emergency door?" He asked with a contagious little laugh.

She laughed too and patted her arm playfully. Delia used to use the emergency door when she visited him at the beginning of her relationship and he remembered it with joy.

"I realized that the gym was closed and I had to see you", he said still laughing, "It has been a long time since you have been to Pallet Town", Smiled slightly now showing a more serious face, "I tried to call you, but no you answered, I thought something had happened to you "

"I'm so sorry Delia, I've been very busy, could you excuse me?", He brushed a lock of her hair from her face.

"I get it Gio" she said kissing him on the cheek.

Delia firmly believed that the love they felt for each other was so strong that it endured distances. The ignorance of all that her husband was doing in the shadows was a heavy rock tied to Giovanni's feet, who stared at her for a moment. He thought it was fortunate that that day he had given all of his guards a day off to have some time alone, although with a lot of work to do from the gym.

"How is our son?", He asked forcing a smile to avoid thinking about the imaginary stone tied to his feet.

"Ash broke his arm a few days ago," the woman muttered.

"What happened?", Giovanni hurried to ask, startled and with a tone of voice that contained a mixture of concern and surprise, "But is Ash okay?"

Delia took a photograph out of her bag and handed it to her husband, it was Ash smiling as always, in a yellow cast, and next to him the little friend of her son Gary Oak.

"Our son is fine. He fell out of a tree in Professor Oak's garden. Fortunately, Gary quickly notified his grandfather and Ash was taken to the hospital."

"Damn," he replied through clenched teeth, "I should have been there," he growled under his breath.

"Ash asked me to give you this picture, keep it", she smiled at him.

"Ash…", he murmured looking at the image.

"He looks a lot like you", Delia commented laughing, "he is an adventurer, he reminds me of you, I know he will want to travel the world, maybe you will see him here soon for a gym challenge"

"That be great…"

They both looked at each other smiling. It had been a long time since they had shared a moment alone. Giovanni wrapped Delia in his arms.

"Do you want something to drink? Have you eaten yet?"

The crime lord had always been overly concerned about his wife. He felt it was his duty to take care of her at the cost of everything. He looked at her as everything he was not, a kind, considerate, generous person, she was like an angel in his eyes. Delia had shown him that he was capable of love and that his past as a lonely child raised without receiving affection and understanding was only a memory, she, Delia, truly loved him.

"I'm fine", Delia gave him a warm smile, "How have you been? How are you doing in the gym?"

"Things are going well, I think better than ever, it's been a long time since someone has taken one of my medals"

"That's my husband." She took his shirt, drawing him to her mouth to kiss him. "You're the best", she said against his lips. He nodded gratefully.

Delia looked around her as if searching for something. At the end she smiling she asked:

"Where is Persian?, May I say hi to he?"

"Sure, he'll be happy to see you"

Giovanni got up from the chair and went to his desk, took his black jacket that was on his chair and looked for the pokeball that contained his precious Persian. Usually the inseparable feline pokemon of the crime lord roamed freely in his office, slept on the expensive carpet or on the sofa and liked to watch his trainer work, Giovanni found it relaxing to run his hand over the Persian's fur, when walked over to his desk and rubbed against his legs. This time Persian was in the pokeball because the gym leader had used him in a challenge that morning and wanted the pokemon to regain energy. The gym leader released Persian from the pokeball who meowed lazily and jumped onto the sofa rubbing his head on Delia's shoulder.

"Hello cute Persian", the woman stroked the feline's head, "How have you been? You look beautiful"

The pokemon seemed to smile as he licked the woman's hands and face. Delia had always liked the buddy of her husband, seemed very beautiful and tender to her. When Giovanni visited to Pallet Town, Persian would play in the garden with Ash and she would prepare special food for him, the pokemon was very fond of his trainer's wife.

Giovanni watched Delia share a moment with Persian, smiled genuinely and approached them. The pokemon jumped to the ground, letting his trainer sit next to the woman, looked at them for a moment and then turned to go to the door.

"Where he goes?"

"He likes to walk around the gym, he is the absolute owner"

The crime lord let out a laugh that would make the hair stand on end to any of his employees or rivals who knew of his perverse activities. But for her Delia it had been an adorable gesture and she fell on top of him hugging him. Giovanni was tempted to stay like this forever.


	3. Your Arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have 4 works to update (Fanfiction)! Two in Spanish and their respective translations! It's being difficult, but I'm doing the best I can! Honestly, it was difficult to write this chapter in Spanish and it was twice as difficult to translate it, you know English is difficult sometimes! Leaving that aside, I laughed a lot writing and translating, I have never done anything like this! Hope it didn't go too bad! Chapter 4 is already in Spanish and I hope to translate it soon. It's a chapter with a +18 warning!

Chapter 3. Your Arms.

Delia held in her heart the moments she lived with Giovanni from the first day she met him in that park in Viridian City. The afternoons that they shared chatting and playing, his teachings on the world of pokemon, and the sunsets that they watched together from the rooftop of the gym, that place that she kept many stories hidden in its corners. She used to get lost in the thoughts of her remembering her husband and from time to time her face would turn melancholy longing to be by his side. But she knew that this was the life she had chosen, the kind of quiet life that she wanted for her child, so she painted her face with a smile and moved on with her life.

Giovanni visited them whenever he could, calling without fail every two or three days. Their son loved to hear the stories of his father, how he beat his rivals or how he trained his pokemon at the Viridian City gym. The boy always was eager awaiting to the call from the gym leader and he rushed to do his homework and behave good so that his mother would not betray him with him. His father had been with them in Paleta Town two months before, but when he returned to the city he had called only twice and then nothing, that worried his wife. That is why that day she had decided to go find him.

"Mommy, when will Dad call?" The dark-haired boy asked, pressing his right cheek on the kitchen table in a downcast tone.

Delia placed Ash's lunch in front of him and looked at him with an understanding look, she knew that the little boy had been waiting for a call from Giovanni for days just like her.

"Dad must be very busy, the Indigo Plateau Conference is starting shortly and there must be many challengers for his gym"

The answer seemed to convince Ash that he stood up like a spring and waved his left arm that had been wearing a yellow cast for a few days.

"That must be! Dad is very strong right mom?"

"Yes, but sit down now, your food will get cold"

Ash sat up and began to eat animatedly, while his mother mentally wondered if her husband was really okay.

After having lunch together Delia packed some things in a backpack and took her son to Professor Oak's house. Gary met them at the door excited to see Ash and his mother, who used to treat him with great kindness and affection. Which filled his heart with warmth by not having his mother with him. The woman left Ash in charge with the professor and returned home to prepare to go to city determinated to see her husband. She had had to walk to the nearest bus stop, which was almost on the outskirts of town. After an hour of travel she got off in the center of the Viridian city and walked for a while remembering some of the moments that she had lived there with her husband.

Finding him working in his office, in the gym, her heart raced, she was happy to see him and to know that he was fine. Giovanni was happy to look at her too. The two spent hours chatting without realizing the time. There was so much that had to be told. He apologized for not calling. He was very busy with gym paperwork and his business as well.

"I'll call Ash tonight without fail, and I hope to go home in a few days"

"He will be delighted by this news." Delia snuggled against Giovanni's chest.

They were in the office couch, the gym leader ran his fingers through his wife's hair and played with them for a while, as he was against to her neck, breathing in her scent. Delia sighed when he checked the time on the wall clock in front of her. She must was to return to Pallet Town soon. She stood up with Giovanni's gaze on her.

The afternoon was beginning to fall, and she gave a warm smile to her husband who looked at her, he was still sitting on the sofa in his office, the orange light of the last summer afternoons in Viridian fell on Delia's face, he blinked a moment trying to keep the charming image of his wife in his mind.

Giovanni remembered that afternoon after leaving her the first time in Pallet Town with his son. He had taken for him a few months to enjoy her little family, and had returned alone to his apartment in Viridian City. He seemed very quiet and lonely without Delia there. He flopped down on the bed he shared with his wife not long ago. His head felt heavy. He stared at the ceiling of his room for a while and then sat on the edge of the bed. He took off his wedding band, held it in front of his face, staring at the sparkle the light from the room caused on it. Then he carefully placed it in a small velvet box and put it in the first drawer of the nightstand. From that moment on he would no longer use it. He would be just a gym leader and a prosperous businessman in the city, with no family to depend on him. He would do it for the welfare of his wife and child. So the next morning he began to erase all trace of Delia in Viridian City, he had completely disappeared her. As far as he was concerned she didn't exist, and he had never met her. He had never fallen madly in love with her and decided that the world should never know of the ties they shared in the distance. He had always been reserved in his private life and that helped to fade her into a haze caused by his contacts and his power in a society that did not remember her, no one was interested at that time in the woman of a young man gym leader. However, time passed and the gym leader's fame grew bigger and bigger. He had become an enigmatic lonely man desired by all the single women in the city. Delia had little or no interest in magazines and gossip shows, so she knew little about what happened to people outside her small town; she was more interested in spending quality time with her son. She rarely visited Giovanni with Ash, so the boy and his mother were never seen in the company of the gym leader. Who took good care of his steps when he was with them. Always being reserved avoiding at all costs to be linked to a wife and child.

He erased those images from his mind and leaned against the back of the sofa, he couldn't stop looking at her. He knew she would be leaving soon but he didn't want her to leave yet. He many times he had had to say goodbye to her and get away, and each time it was more difficult. He was always thinking was of her and their son. But his actions as the leader of Team Rocket reached his head and tormented him, made him keep his distance too, he thought he couldn't have both.

"I think I'd better go home."

Giovanni came out of him reverie and got up to take her hand. Their gazes met. Delia's sweet gaze made him want to take her in his arms and never let her go.

"Don't go yet," he said almost in his whisper. He lightly ran the tips of his fingers down her cheeks, caressing her.

Delia was lost for a moment in the dark, deep eyes of her husband. She in the past she always came to them to calm her worries and find a refuge from her fears. Giovanni was an interesting and attentive man who had easily made her fallen in love with him. She stood on tiptoe and tenderly kissed her husband who wrapped his arms around her. The gym leader felt that the world was freezing around his and the only thing he could think about was be like this, holding her against his body.

Delia shifted between the strong, well-marked arms of the gym leader. It was the result of the exercise that he did daily and in an almost religious way. A way to waste energy and avoid thinking about she. The kiss escalated from tender to passionate in a moment. Giovanni kissed her urgently and forcefully. He ran his hands up and down her back, exploring her on the fabric. The contact made the woman feel a familiar shudder. Her heart began to beat rapidly and her legs betrayed her. They parted for a moment to breathe, she looked at the twinkle in her husband's eyes that lit up like fire. The crime lord felt the blood boil in his veins. He felt the desire to settle in his mind clouding his judgment. Only she could provoke such feelings in him. Only with her could he shed the mask of coldness. He needed to keep her with him, kiss her, feel her tremble with pleasure under his touch and lose himself in the quality of her touch.

"Delia", He said, losing himself in the woman's neck.

"Giovanni…" He hear Delia say her name almost in a whisper that made him skin crawl.

Her husband's hands went to rest on her hips, while he stared at her as if waiting. Delia leaned slightly against his body, holding him by the front of his pale blue shirt. As if that was what he expected her to do, he claimed her lips again so softly that she thought she was imagining it, but then he did it again, more firmly, and Delia felt her lips burn, open without she gave them permission, looking for more. Her head felt in a cloud of hormones, but like a bolt through her thoughts she remembered her son waiting for her in Pallet Town. She had to go before the night took her by surprise. She knew that she had to get away from him, detach herself from the arms that surrounded her and from his lips that caressed her with passion. Her husband's hands stroked her hair, as he had done so many times before, entangling his fingers in the chocolate-colored strands, playing a wicked smile on his face.

Giovanni's closeness made her want more, but the ticking of the clock on the wall impeded her fallen from indulging in her desires. As if the gym leader sensed the doubts in her, he pressed her tighter against his body, letting her know what she was doing in him. With his penetrating gaze analyzing her waiting for the answer. Delia felt the hardness of him like a stone, brushing against her body, and responded as if someone had flipped a switch inside her. She felt the desire sprout between her legs and her decision to want to go home disappeared. She kissed him back with the desperation of the lonely months, wanting him with such intensity that she knew there would be no going back. The kiss sent flames of desire to all her secret places, as if it were spreading a flammable liquid inside her. Delia couldn't help herself. The pleasure was irresistible. She needed his hands, his mouth, his desire for her, which he will remind her of what they had shared in the past and shared in the distance, and how she felt safe in the arms of he.

She pulled away and gave him a flirtatious look, her hand gently pushing him back. He backed away still looking at her until he felt the couch behind him. She pushed him harder again and her husband flopped onto the seat. There was a smile on his face that invited her to follow him. Delia didn't keep him waiting and went to sit on his lap. She took her husband's face in her hands and kissed him. One of his hands held her by the back and the other caressed her leg, going up and down, as if making a recognition of every inch of her. The man's deft fingers released the buckles on her heels and fell to the ground with a slight sound. Both were now engulfed in a shower of kisses and caresses, which they seemed to be holding back for a long time. Giovanni left hot, passionate kisses down the woman's neck. Delia straddled him.

"I missed you so much" He whispered in her ear with one hand tucked behind her ear, stroking her.

"That's why you must go home more often, dear", She answered, leaning back slightly, separating their bodies.

Giovanni's hands got under his wife's blouse and crawled up, she didn't keep him waiting and pulled her blouse over her head and threw it over her shoulder. The pale, well-defined body of his woman appeared before him, causing him a sudden feeling of pride and possession. Her husband's hands went around her to unfasten her bra, at such a release the female breasts shook slightly causing Giovanni to smile. Each of his hands went to one of them. He squeezed them gently, stroking and playing with them, pleased with the muffled moans that Delia let out. She threw her head back as he took one of her nipples with his thumb and rubbed it, causing an electrifying wave of heat that ran through her from head to toe. With her body in a sudden trembling, she leans over her husband and put her hands between his hair, pulling them out of their order, they were always well combed and now they were in an uproar. She enjoyed ruffling them up, lacing her fingers through them. While he was kissed her breasts and savored them with his tongue, circling her nipples playfully, sucking and nibbling. She began to feel the wetness between her legs and grabbed his face tightly and kissed him biting his upper lip. Then she took his hands and held them apart aside. Giovanni spread his arms on either side of the sofa to rest on the back of it, allowing his wife to pull his shirt out from under his pants.

The woman's hands went to the buttons of his shirt without taking her eyes off her husband's, those dark eyes in which she could easily lose himself. She unbuttoned his shirt and reached into it hands, extending them to the sides of it, caressing Giovanni's abdomen, which moved under her when he felt her warm hands. She then kissed his chest, with both hands exploring his brown skin, moving over his abdomen. Her hands ended on the waist of the leader who was looking at her with desire. Soon his shirt ended up on the floor. And he helped himself with hisfeet to take off hisshoes without having to get up.

Through the black fabric of her husband's pleated pants Delia could feel his dick begging to be released. With a smile that Giovanni could not describe in any other way than erotic, she unbuckled his belt and pushed the button off his pants. The release made him shudder, but there was no time to think about it as his woman's hand reached for him and began to move up and down in an almost deadly rhythm. His mind was clouded and he pulled the woman up to him to kiss her as she pleasured him, his voice turning hoarse as he began to moan over Delia's mouth.

"You like it that way, right?" She looked at him with a mischievous smile.

He didn't answer her, instead, he wrapped his arms around her and spun her around to be on top of her. Delia's back now rested against the couch. The sight of her husband towering over her reminded her of other similar scenes from the past and a blush lit up her cheeks. The gym leader's hands ran up her hips up her waist and ended up massaging her breasts. She could feel her husband's passion and need in every touch and kiss he gave her. Which made her feel powerful. This man belonged her body and soul and so neither distance nor time could change it. Giovanni kissed her mouth invading it with his tongue, Delia's hands caressed the bare back of her husband and she decanted kissing his neck.

Her husband's hands moved desperately over her legs, he pulled her skirt up to her hips and move her panties a bit aside. She let out a moan of pleasure when she felt her husband's fingers invade her body, she arched her back and clung to him holding his forearm. An explosion of sensations made her shiver with pleasure, which spread throughout her body as he began to rub her sweet, sensitive button of flesh.

"Oh, oh, oh", The sound escaping from her lips flooded the room, arched against her husband's hand that continued to give hot caresses in her most intimate part.

Giovanni held her sensitive button between his thumb and forefinger and pressed it, shaking it roughly. Delia's eyes widened much and her heart seemed to leap out of her chest, pounding fiercely.

"You like it that way, right?" Giovanni said smiling maliciously. He kissed her again on the mouth with madness and held her tight when she began to convulse wrapped in pleasure under his body.

When her body relaxed and still with some spasms from the storm that made her lose herself for a moment in the sky. She smiled at him.

"You're a cheater", she claimed, laughing languidly.

She lifted her pelvis a little to help him lower her panties completely and watched him down his pants and trunks a little more, but he didn't have time to take them off completely. She hugged him with her legs to bring him closer to the wet entrance of her femininity. The tip of Giovanni's erection caressed her gently. He sank and came out slightly in the folds of her, without go far in, playing, provocking her. She moaned and pulled him closer to her. She kissed him as she began to rub herself against him.

"Do it", She whispered in his ear.

He didn't keep her waiting and sank into her body. Feeling the narrow walls of her stretch against his dick. He stifled a groan as he slid deeper. He began to move slowly and rhythmically, giving her time. Adjusting to her body.

"Delia, Delia", He repeated her name urgently.

"Yes, more, more, yes, yes..." She order him, squeezing her hand with his.

Her husband's thrusts took a brisk and energetic pace. His outstretched hand rested on the lower part of her feminine belly, caressing her possessively, as he came and went of her. Giovanni lifted her by putting an arm around her back and as he leaned on his knees astride the limited space of the couch. He grabbed her from ass, holding Delia tight, as she rocked up and down in time with his thrusts. Delia wrapped her arms around his neck allowing him to explore her breasts with his mouth. She kissed his neck agitated, moving against his body. She threw her head back in pleasure as she felt her husband's hand massage her hot and sensitive clit.

She felt the heat rise to her head keep there, preparing to explode like a kettle full of water about to boil fiercely. Agitation, sweat, craziness. Giovanni indulging her was all she could think of. She was about to reach the top, she could feel it. He noticed it and moved his hand faster over the intimate part of her. Presaged his own rise to the top.

"Be break free!" He told her as he heard her moan louder.

“You too”

They held hands, they were one, as many times before, and each time it seemed better, perhaps it was the distance that made them feel so good when they could be together and enjoy each other without impediments. Delia felt as if she was flying on a cloud, she could not think of anything, only on Giovanni filling her completely, entering and coming out her totally as if he were the owner of her existence. For his part, the crime lord felt dopamine run throughout his body, feeling more alive than any other day. He had Delia at his total disposal, she was only his, and he wanted to stay so until the end of time. Both were in a state of total ecstasy, and the bliss of being one came over them.

The woman hugged her husband tightly, he moved in frenzy, and she screamed his name clawing at the gym leader's back. Her body convulsed with fervor and she felt her face boil. The pleasure was drawn on her face. Giovanni smiled as he saw her reach the long-awaited climax. An instant later he felt her own climax coming from below. The atmosphere was cut off by the roar of his release, he squeezed her tight and gave a few more shoves, reaching deeper. Finally he dropped her gently against the couch and rested his head against her still heaving and sweaty chest. She stroked his hair and kissed his head.

"I love you", they heard themselves say in unison.

She could feel the full weight of her husband against her body for a moment longer. And she complained when he pulled away from her, to stand up. He pulled up his pants and brought something from his desk. She sat back in the couch and adjusted her skirt. Giovanni handed her a box of tissues and her face flushed.

"Is it a risky day?" He asked, running a hand through his hair.

"No, I don't think so…" At least she hoped so because she hadn't thought about it before.

She watched him nod and grabbed her clothes to head to the bathroom at the back of the office. She came out after a while. She had cleaned up and refreshed herself a bit. Giovanni was waiting for her sitting behind his desk. He was finishing filling out some forms. He had also put on his shoes and shirt, but his hair was still messy. When he looked at her he smiled at her and leaned back in his executive chair putting his hands behind his head.

"I'll take you home, it's too late"

Delia looked at the clock on the wall and was surprised. She had been away from home for almost six hours.

"I have to call Ash", she told him worriedly.

Giovanni pointed to the phone on his desk, watched her dial the number of the old friend of the Ketchum family. A moment later he heard her tell the man that she would be back soon that he must will not let Ash leave. He also heard her speak in a motherly tone of voice to their son.

"Do you want to say hi to Daddy?"

The gym leader raised an eyebrow and she waved him for him to pick up the phone. When he had the receiver against his ear he heard Ash's cheerful voice on the other side.

"Daddy! When are you coming to see me?", The little black-haired demanded. His father smiled with the phone against his ear as he looked at his wife.

"How about having dinner together today?"

"Really daddy?", The boy exclaimed, jumping to the other side of the line.

"Yes, we'll see you later."

"It's okay. I love you Papa"

"And I to you Ash"

He listened to the noise of the dead line and put the phone down. He rose from the chair and took his jacket from the back.

"How about a little spaghetti from your husband tonight?"

"It's a perfect idea."

Giovanni put his arm around her shoulders and Delia put a hand around his waist as she laughed. They walked together to the door. Leaving behind a stack of unfinished papers. Persian found them at the emergency exit. He rubbed against his trainer's legs and then against Delia's.

"Do you want spaghetti Persian too?" Delia asked as her husband made sure the door was closed properly.

The pokemon made a noise that sounded like a loud meow in response and moved towards the gym parking lot. His trainer followed him by the woman's hand.

The sun was gone, it had gone down as Giovanni drove through the streets of Viridian City towards Route 1. His wife took his hand and looked at him smiling. This would be a good night, he thought as they walked away from the bustle of the city.


	4. Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week I have returned to work so I have not had much time to write. I hope I can do it on this weekend!

Chapter 4. Interrogation.

Throughout Kanto there was a series of riots that made its population worry, it was commented through its streets and alleys that Team Rocket was having fights with a new organization for the territories in their domain. What had its residents worried about the problems that this would bring to their daily lives and to the order of the region. Red lights went on in every police department in the region. It was quite a problem already having to deal with an organization of the caliber of which Team Rocket was, as to had to face double the problems. They had been investigating them for years without much success, when their soldiers were caught they never spoke. They were completely silent with great loyalty to their leader, they would rather rot in a dark cell than have to expose their boss. Many detectives had taken and left the Team Rocket file and the question of who was running it from the shadows.

Looker was an energetic and audacious detective who had been sent from the International Police to take the Team Rocket file. He was a determined man and dedicated to his work, so when he was sent to Celadon City to investigate this case, he was very excited. It would be a big challenge to overcome, but he expected to have fun along the way.

As he walked through the streets of the city he watched the bustle around him. He looked with attention at the little details like the bum asking for money on the corner or the woman selling berry juice at the stall across the street. The young woman looked busy, going and back in the small space of her work booth. She was wearing an apron that, from what you could see, with the image of what Looker thought was a bellsprout. The woman smiled at her clients as she served them. He could tell that despite the rush she enjoyed contact with people. He mentally noted the location of the place, probably when he was a little less busy and with more calm he could turn around and perhaps dare to greet the golden-haired woman.

Looker peered at a gang of meowth who ran into an alleyway escaping from a huge man with a beard but no hair on his head who was chasing them with a butcher knife.

"Damn thieves this time you'll pay me", he heard the man shouting with an expression of anger and frustration mixed on his face.

The man suddenly slipped on one of the sausages the meowth had stolen prior to his establishment and fell backward onto the hard concrete floor. Looker was tempted to laugh at that unfortunate one, but he just walked past him and mentally asked any God in heaven that the meowths have something to eat the next day as well.

He walked a few more blocks until he reached a very popular restaurant in town. One of his friends in the International Police had recommended it to him, saying that he was originally from the beautiful Celadon and that it was his favorite place to eat. He joked with Looker that he might be able to win the well-known wolverine contest as he investigated Team Rocket and unraveled that mystery of the new organization that was now getting into his territories.

When opening the door to pass a bell above it, announced his arrival, a friendly waitress greeted him with a wide smile on her face and guided him to one of the tables overlooking the city streets.

He ordered a coffee without sugar and wait for the special of the day drinking. While he waited for his order, he read the news of the day in Celadon's newspaper. He noted that on the front page was the reopening of the city's casino. The place was remodeled to attract more potential customers and have better facilities. He had heard that it was a very luxurious place and that the great personalities of Kanto used to visit it continuously. He raised an eyebrow thinking that he should take a look around the casino later. He could talk to some people and see if any of them were suspicious. Looker used to say that the rich always wanted more and that's why they were always involved in shady things. One of his friends often joked with him, that that was very prejudice.

He carefully read the casino article where Giovanni was named, a young businessman from Viridian City. That he was not only the owner of the casino, a network of hotels and a pokemon technology company that was beginning to rival Silph S.A. he was also the enigmatic gym leader of his city. His gray eyes rested with big attention on the image of the dark, cold-eyed on the front page shaking hands with the mayor of Celadon City. He ran a hand through his brown hair and thought it would be interesting to talk to someone so powerful in that region, who knows might be he able to give him some clues.

The waitress appeared with Looker's order. He tossed the diary on the table and then put the mug on Giovanni's face in the diary. He ate calmly, the day was just beginning for him, although outside the sun had already been hitting those below for hours. He had arrived in the city at dawn and the time change took him by surprise. He already had a list of things to do, he would first walk around the city after eating. He would talk to some delinquents on the street. He would follow the little clues that others might not take into account. That night he would also keep wake up, reading all the information that had been accumulating throughout those years about Team Rocket.

Far from Kanto, in the city of Mahogany located in Johto, Giovanni was at the central base of Team Rocket, he had a severe and annoying headache that had been installed for a couple of hours. He leaned back in his executive chair and stretched his arms over his head trying to relax, then he took the black pen that was on his desk and started to finish going through the stack of papers on his desk. The last few weeks had been a complete toothache.

He had first had to travel from Viridian to Celadon on several occasions to supervise the remodeling of his casino. Filling out gym paperwork and to fulfill his leader role, which is why he had had to dispatch some trainers who left empty-handed and head down. Many had licked their wounds and returned for a rematch that had the same effects as their first meeting with the Viridian leader.

Then there were his wife and son whom he had last seen two months ago. His wife had paid him a sweet visit to the gym that he now remembered from afar. On that occasion he indulged in dinner with her and Ash at Pallet Town. But time had been too short for his regret. Because the next morning he returned to Viridian to find the news of a criminal group invading his territories, so he had started a series of headaches that were about to drive him crazy.

"Sir!"

A young agent in a black uniform with the characteristic red r on his chest,exclaimed . Giovanni raised his head from the paperwork in front of his desk and gave his agent an annoyed look. The young man gulped, his forehead was sweaty and he looked nervous.

"What?", Giovanni replied with a certain tone of annoyance.

"We have received reports from Celadon City sir, they have caught a guy trying to enter the base of the casino"

Giovanni pressed his lips, and dropped the pen in annoyance on the fine wooden surface of his desk. Although troublesome, it was also interesting news that had come from Celadon, he thought as he rose to his feet.

For some time some mysterious men began to snoop around Kanto, meddling in his affairs and starting fights so far not very noticeable with the soldiers of Team Rocket. However, he was very interested in knowing who was handling these guys and what his real intentions were in Kanto. He had always been a curious man who liked mysteries, riddles, and mental challenges. This could be an interesting one to tear apart. These mysterious men were all dressed in black and carried in their arms a purple band with a symbol that was unknown to Giovanni.

"Have they obtained information from him?" His harsh voice from hers sounded colder than usual.

"No sir, he refuses to speak," the brown-haired, blue-eyed agent muttered.

The crime lord hit the desk hard with the base of his fist. Which made his soldier jump.

"Get my helicopter ready. I'll go see he myself."

"But sir ...

"Hurry up!"; He cut him off with an authoritative shout.

"Yes sir!", The young man was quick to say, then shot out of the boss's office.

The crime lord buttoned the vest of his dark suit. Then he smoothed the fabric over it, running his hands lightly up and down. He was sure it would be a long night. He took his sack and strode purposefully to the door. Persian who was resting on a soft and comfortable pillow near the window raised her head. The feline pokemon stretched out, lengthening his legs forward and throwing his tail back, then he crouched, bringing all four paws together on the pillow, and leapt to follow his trainer, moving lightly across the place. On the trip to Celadon City, the head of Team Rocket was restless, wondering if his assumptions of the last days would come true, was he perhaps facing the beginning of a difficult situation? Each time these guys were closer to his footsteps and that was beginning to irritate him. He tried to calm his thoughts, looking out the window of the aircraft, Persian rubbed against his body and Giovanni caressed him feeling soon more relaxed. Since the beginning of his criminal career as the leader of the organization founded by his mother, he had faced different obstacles, but none of them were difficult enough to cause him to doubt or feel exasperated. Many detectives tried to dismantle Team Rocket during those years, and they all failed miserably. Giovanni had taken it upon himself to forge in his followers a firm loyalty to him. Worrying about making them feel important and necessary to Team Rocket and their plans. All were well paid and allowed to rise through the ranks easily if they were consistent in their efforts to meet the demands and expectations of their boss. The crime lord didn't care much then when one of his soldiers was arrested or sent to prison. Also, who would dare to expose him knowing his power and his total control over the corrupt policemen in the region. It was better to shut your mouth than die of suicide in jail.

During his years as the great chief of Kanto, he had moved through the shadows. Everyone knew and feared Team Rocket, but no one knew who pulled the strings behind the shadows. Giovanni had four loyal and close executives working for him under his command, and being his direct contact with all branches of his organization. They were a team that very well combined strategy, use of technology, mass movement and management of their resources. They were in charge of showing their faces when necessary, passing information, and making payments to those who needed to buy. So their boss maintained absolute anonymity.

The crime lord's footsteps echoed through the silence of the underground corridor that led to cells his base in Celadon City. The path was poorly lit with a few yellowish lights spaced apart, which gave the place a gloomy feel. A young agent opened the door to the locked room where they kept the marauder. Giovanni appeared as a dark silhouette due to the poor light of the place. He entered with a firm step and the gazes of those present turned against him, surprised by his presence.

"Everyone get out", he ordered dryly.

The three Team Rocket agents who had been trying to get information out of the man hurriedly left but not before inclining their heads towards their boss, the agent who had guided him there also left. In the place there were a gasoline can that contained water, some work tools and a car battery with some current connected. His soldiers had amused themselves by torturing this enemy, but without much success, for he had stood his ground without saying a word.

Giovanni directed his gaze towards the center of the room where there was a small metal table and a cold and dirty chair, illuminated with the white light of a spotlight that swayed above them. There was a young man who must be no more than a few years younger than him, his hands were tied behind the chair. His face was swollen from the blows and one of his eyelids ran bloodied with a large cut above the brow. Giovanni had his right hand in his pants pocket. He looked at him seriously noticing the wet and dirty clothes. The scent of what he recognized as blood hit him a moment later. The crime lord took a few steps towards the boy who gave him a mocking smile.

"Wow, the big boss has arrived", The teasing and daring tone of voice did not go unnoticed by the impetuous boss.

Giovanni did not flinch, he just looked at him with his deep dark eyes studying every detail that could give him clues. He smirked and placed one of his hands on the shoulder of the young man who shuddered, feeling as if his body warned him of imminent danger. With terrifying speed Giovanni grabbed him by the hair and smashed his face against the cold metal, the noise was thunderous. The blood spurted from the young's face, who let out a scream of pain feeling his front teeth split in his mouth, the salty taste of blood filled his throat completely and he felt like he was choking, he coughed for air when without contemplations was taken again by the hair and smashed mercilessly against the table.

The crime lord walked around the chair and took a knife that was on the metal table, the young's eyes danced in fear, waiting to be attacked again, so he decided to close them and wait for the next blow, but what he felt was a slight feeling of relief when noticing the release of his hands, that he astoundingly raised in front of him, to his chest.

"I'll give you a chance", Giovanni said in a tone that even seemed sincere.

The young man looked at him doubtfully, he ran his hands over his wrists trying to alleviate the pain he felt in them, and he stood up, looking at the man in front of him, he thought that being one against one he could defeat him and maybe get out of that garbage can. However, he soon realized that he was not in the best position. For a moment silence reigned.

Suddenly the young man began to laugh sardonically. His blood-soaked face made him look disturbed.

"If you show me your face, it's because you think I won't get out of here, right?" He spat at Giovanni's feet, who didn't answer. "You should be more cautious, now I know your face."

"Do you think that matters to me?"

"I should if you have a secret to hide"

Giovanni felt a strange chill run down his spine. The man in front of him smiled as he noticed his cold expression change for a moment to one of interest.

"Before coming here I took a little trip, you know? I breathed the calm air of the country ... I watched some children play near a river, and a beautiful woman tending a garden", His eyes turned dark and he smiled grimly.

Anger was about to explode in Giovanni, if what he said was true he was in serious trouble. One that threatened not only his organization but his identity, his family. His hands clenched into fists at his side.

"Who else knows?" Giovanni asked in a threatening tone.

"I will not tell you anything!", The guy yelled angrily, "Let me go right now!"

With firm steps the young man pounced with his fist towards the gym leader who did not back down and also advanced against the man who did not have a chance against the violent speed of the crime lord who took him by the neck lifting him off the ground.

"Bad choice," Giovanni said, shaking his head, his fist crashing hard and fury against theman's abdomen, who coughed feeling the air leave his body.

Giovanni released him from the grip by dropping him to his knees at his feet, his face still dripping with blood and had a burning sensation in his lungs. The young man began to cough and spit out a mixture of blood and saliva that left a dark stain on the ground. His heart was beating desperately and his vision was clouded. He was suddenly too dazed to think. After hours of torture playing tough and making his captors angry, he believed that he could resist without problems, emboldened by his achievements up to that moment. Now instead he was afraid, his body was seized by a constant feeling of chills.

The crime lord lifted his foot against him and forced him to fall completely to the dirty ground crushing him at shoulder height. Giovanni kicked his head making his spit out a couple more teeth.

"Who sent you?", The crime lord yelled, being overcome by rage. He kicked him one more time now in the ribs.

The man lying on the ground gripped his side in pain, his ribs had cracked loudly. He thought he would pass out from the pain.

"Leo Cipriani!", He said in a shakythin voice.

Giovanni now had his hands in his trouser pockets, he smiled maliciously, and pressed his shoe closer to the young man, hearing the young's clavicle creak as he spat blood and screamed in pain.

"He's been following in your footsteps for a while…", He coughed once more. "He calls himself Prophet, and he calls his followers Black Knights."

"What does he know about me and what does he want?"

"Cipriani had suspected you for a long time… He entrusted me to follow you… I saw you with a woman leaving the gym a couple of months ago and I followed you to Pallet Town. I found out your secret”, He chuckled, now he already knew his fate.

Giovanni leaned down and took him by the hair tightly to make him see his eyes. The man could see in the Rocket leader's gaze fury and a darkness that he did not recognize, but he terrified him by making him tremble.

"But wait… I haven't informed him yet, let me go… I have my report hidden in my lair. I'll go get him and hand him over to you. Nobody will know about this!"

"Where is that report?"

"In a little abandoned cabin on Route 7", he answered breathlessly.

The crime lord got up satisfied with what he had achieved, he saw the young man try to get up slowly. Giovanni headed for the door.

"Will you let me go?", The man behind him asked hastily.

"You made a serious mistake going to Pallet Town"

The eyes of the man on the ground widened in fear and he struggled to stand up. He watched Giovanni leave the room and stared at the floor at his feet, thinking about his life, about the bad decisions he had made when he left home at seventeen and began a life of problems and sins that had led to that precise moment, the culmination of his existence.

As he left the cell, a Team Rocket agent was waiting silently and expectantly, the crime lord passed him, from the side.

"You know what to do with it," he said quietly.

"Yes sir!", He answered quickly, heading for the cell.

Giovanni walked with a gloomy face. His head was wrapped in a tangle of thoughts that were beginning to make him dizzy. He thought of Delia and her sweet smile, greeting him at the door of their house. In their son running into his arms, and in the warm moments that he kept in his heart. In all those years he had committed heinous misdeeds, and he never doubted his actions. He knew he surely had a direct pass to hell and that didn't scare him. But now he was afraid. Fear for his family. And that feeling that embraced him with fervor was unknown.

He had always been willing to do anything to keep Team Rocket as Kanto's absolute owner. However, something far more important than that was at stake now. He was unwilling to reveal the secrets he had so mistrust guarded all those years. Leo Cipriani would be no match for him, he thought, he would move all his pieces to be in a better position in the game that had just begun. The figure of the man in the black suit was lost in the dark corridor, leaving behind the loud noise of a gun being fired, then silence filled the place.

Giovanni rushed back to Viridian City after his visit to the casino in Celadon. And he sent one of his trusted executives to Route 7 in search of the report on his family. The chosen one was the loyal Archer. A young, but intrepid member of Team Rocket whom Giovanni trusted too much. He informed him of the man who had been captured in Celadon, and of the identity of the puppeteer behind whom they now knew were called the Black Knights, Leo Cipriani. He told Archer about the member of that organization who had been following him, but avoided commenting on the discovery he had made about his family. Archer listened to his boss attentively, standing in front of his desk in the Viridian City gym. He had the task of finding a report that by no means should reach the hands of Leo Cipriani.

"You must locate that important report on me", Giovanni had his elbows on the desk and his hands were clasped at the level of his face.

"I'll take care of it sir," the blue-haired boy replied with a calm tone.

"I trusted this in your hands Archer"

The executive bowed his head and left the gym leader's office. Giovanni stood up when he saw him close the door behind him and went to the large window in his office. He looked at his face reflected against the glass. It reflected the tiredness in him and the hours without sleep. Some of his hair was out of place and he had deep circles under his eyes. He hadn't had time for anything, after leaving the casino he had returned to Viridian and the trip left him exhausted. As soon as he was in the gym he called Archer who was taking care of some things in city. He now hoped that the young executive would be successful in his mission and will deliver him that report soon.

He heard Persian jump out of the chair in which he also rested exhausted from the agitated journey from Mahogany to Celadon and from there to Viridian. Giovanni's feline companion stopped next to him and raised his head for his trainer to pet him.

"Are you tired, friend?" He smirked wearily.

The Persian meowed in response. His trainer patted him on the head and pulled out the pokeball that he kept in the back of his belt. The red light illuminated Persian's face, who looked at him with what Giovanni thought was a smile before disappearing into the pokeball. A slight knock made her face turn toward his office door.

"Sir, your car awaits you", said a Rocket soldier poking his head cautiously.

Giovanni nodded and went to the couch, where befores his Persian was resting, and took on hands the black jacket from his suit. He noticed that he had some hairs from the feline pokemon and made an annoyed frown.

As he watched through the glass of the car as it moved through the busy city streets, he thought of his wife and son. He wondered what they were doing now, it was late and there was a freezing autumn wind so maybe they were drinking some hot and delicious drink made by Delia. He leaned against the car seat with hIS arms crossed over hIS chest and imagined he was in Pallet Town with them drinking hot chocolate. The trip to his apartment in the center of the city had been faster than usual, which he appreciated. The place was dark and totally silent. It had a sober style. There were no personal touches because he didn't need them. He almost shuffled into his room, where he tossed his suit jacket onto a nearby chair and ditched his belt and shoes. Then he fell heavily onto the mattress. He relaxed for a moment closing his eyes. He heard the unmistakable sound of a pokeball opening and a moment later Persian was beside him on the bed snuggling against him. Sleep began to overwhelm him and without realizing it he was already dreaming of Pallet Town and a cup of hot chocolate warming his hands.


	5. Pokemon Master

Chapter 5. Pokemon Master

A month after from Delia's visit Viridian city in search of her husband Giovanni.

The sun was beating high in the sky. It was a warm autumn day, but with a nice cold wind that caressed the children's cheeks as they ran. The trees were beginning to lose their leaves and some had their leafy branches colored yellow and red.

The sound of fast footsteps of two young boys and the strong, heavy footsteps of a Tauros mingled in the quiet atmosphere of the Pallet Town days countryside.

"Hurry up Ash!",Gary Oak yelled agitatedly at his partner. His face was flushed and a few beads of sweat were beginning to appear.

Behind the brown hair boy the son of Delia and Giovanni ran, as fast as his legs would allow him. Glancing from time to time over his shoulder to make out the huge annoying figure that was chasing them closely. The snorts of the Tauros made the dark-haired boy stand on end. The bovine pokemon flapped its three tails furiously as it tried to reach the children.

"Run, run faster", Gary yelled desperately.

Ash made one last effort trying to take longer steps. His black hair was dancing in the sun as he ran waving them. His heart was pounding in his chest and for a moment he thought he would break out. His legs were beginning to weaken, but he reached as best he could to his friend. The yellow cast on his arm prevented him from running normally so when Gary had him close to him he grabbed his hand and pulled him with him dragging him next to him. The children ran together, until they reached the edge of the road, both took a look at the river that about ten meters below it looked deep and dark blue.

"Hell!", Little Gary Oak yelled with a few beads of sweat running down his face that was outlined in frustration.

The Tauros was rapidly approaching them, eyes red in fury, waving their tails in the air and scraping the ground with their hooves showing their strength and courage. For a moment Ash thought in the pokemon coming up to them and throwing them away from an onslaught, they would fall into the river and maybe they would hit each other or even worse it would drown, was it a good swimmer? His mind traveled two summers back when his father visited them and they went to spend the day at the river on the outskirts of town. It was a quiet and cool place, he remembered the pokemon he looked at that time and he also remembered Giovanni holding him while he learned to float, on that occasion his father taught him to swim. Ash squeezed his eyes shut and without thinking more, grabbed Gary by the forearm and yanked them off the cliff.

"You're crazy", his longtime friend exclaimed.

"Stretch your legs!", Ash's voice sounded like a quick shot.

The water made a loud noise as the two child figures broke their resistance. And it flailed from side to side violently. Ash opened his eyes underwater, the rays of light piercing the water mass. He instinctively began to wave his arms and legs swimming upward, where the sun now looked like a luminous sphere across the water.

The river was colder now that autumn had begun. A flock of pidgeys flew over the nearby area, and the branches of some trees flapped lightly in a gust of wind. The bodies of the children surfaced. First he was the grandson of the pokemon researcher, followed by the little scion of the tough Viridian City gym leader. Gary and Ash took a big breath of oxygen into their lungs as they felt the cool Pallet Town air hit their faces as they emerged from the river water. They looked at each other with a face of surprise and mixed emotion. Then in an almost synchronized way they took a look up where the Tauros was watching them with a discouraged face, they watched it turn around and go back the way it came. The boys gave each other knowing looks again and began to laugh. Gary slapped on the river throwing water towards Ash who did not stay still and did the same while their laughter did not stop filling the environment.

They swam to shore and came out dripping water still agitated and tired from the race.

"That was very exciting," Gary said as he dropped into the green grass.

"I know!", The black-haired man exclaimed. "I told you that the Tauros would be upset if you tried to ride it!"

Ash sat cross-legged and began checking the cast on his arm. This one was totally wet and was leaking from the inside. Both boys' hair was dripping water and their clothes were very wet. Samuel Oak's grandson glanced at his friend who had his arm bent toward the ground trying to get as much water as possible from his cast. Gary smiled with amusement and stretched out on the grass allowing histo stroke the skin of his arms and legs.

"I didn't think you were going to throw us into the river Ash, it's the craziest thing you've ever done"

"Did you want the Taurus to catch us?", Ash replied in amusement.

"Well if I had a pokemon I would have given it a fight" He stood up looking at Ash "I'm going to be a great pokemon master" He declared with a fist in the air.

Little Gary Oak spoke with great confidence in himself what he passed on to his friend. Ash's chocolate eyes sparkled with excitement and forgetting his annoying cast, he jumped off the ground to stand next to Gary as well.

"Me too!" He declared intrepid.

Gary stopped in front of his partner and looked at him with determination, reached out his hand towards him to shake it with his, Ash looked at him confused.

"We will be rivals!" The boy in the purple shirt smiled, Ash did the same and shook his hand.

"Rivals!" The dark-haired little boy repeated. If Delia had seen that determined and emboldened face of her son, her heart would have melted at the great resemblance of character between him and his father.

Ash and Gary had known each other since they were little with diapers. When Delia went to live in Pallet Town with her son who was just a baby in arms, she found that her childhood friend had also recently had a little boy, who was only three months older than Ash.

Delia fondly remembered those first months back in Pueblo Paleta with her husband and son. Giovanni, who used to be so reserved and quiet, he decanted to pamper his baby and hang out with him. He more than once he had fallen asleep on the living room sofa with the child resting on his chest, moments like that filled the heart of the gym leader's wife with warm feelings.

They used to visit Professor Oak and his family. Sammy's wife was a lively and helpful young women who delighted Delia very much from their first meeting with her. The son of her childhood friend was a charming baby with gray eyes and brown hair. He was very much like his father and grandfather. Of those months in Pallet Twon Delia kept a photograph taken one afternoon at the professor's house. It was what she considered her family, her husband and her son, and her lifelong friends, the Oaks. In the photograph, two fathers were carrying their babies with their wives by their side. Giovanni with his always serious face and Sammy with a big smile from ear to ear. But time passed very quickly and those days dissolved like the steam from a cup of coffee in the air. Giovanni returned to Viridian City and Delia was left alone in her house with Ash. However, she had her friends close to her and that comforted her. She thought that raising her child in that quiet and welcoming environment had been the best option. The boys grew up together sharing family moments that they would cherish forever.

But not everything was flowers and colors, everything changed when Gary's mother fell ill when the child was only four years old. An illness that left her bedridden for months and from which she could not recover. Dark days came for the Oaks, the professor did everything he could to keep his son and grandson from going on with their lives, but that blow had been fatal for Sammy who turned cold and distant. Soon his son began to feel displaced. Delia couldn't do much for them and it tormented her. Sammy decided to leave Pallet Town, leaving behind his son and his father.

"I'm going to be gone for a while", Sammy's voice was cold.

"But… Gary needs you…", Delia waited, standing near the door to Sammy's office.

"He is a strong child, he does not need me more than he needed his mother, he will be fine with my father"

Those words made Delia want to beat the man in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing from someone she thought she knew well. Which hurt her.

"I'm going to work on an investigation on legendary pokemon, it will be a wonder you'll see", he said agitated trying to make Delia understand what he believed was the right thing to do.

"No Sammy, this is not about your job. You're just running away…" her chocolate eyes looked at him in disappointment. "I hope you think better of this", she looked one last time at her friend and left the office. Outside, Ash was waiting for her playing with Gary in the living room.

"My sweet, it's time to go home", Ash stood up and took his mother's hand.

"Are you leaving?", Gary said with a small voice, looking at Delia with pity.

The woman leaned over and hugged the little boy who was already teary-eyed. That little face of him filled her with tenderness and she wanted to be able to hold Gary in her arms and not allow anything to hurt him.

"We have to go home Gary, but I promise we'll be back tomorrow and you can come see us whenever you want." She wiped the tears from the boy's face with the palm of her hand and kissed his cheeks. Gary smiled calmer and nodded.

Sammy Oak left of Pallet Town leaving behind his son with whom he now had little communication. He became a researcher dedicated to the study of little-known and legendary pokemon. Delia never left little Oak alone whom she adored as a nephew. She was very fond of the professor who had been her mentor and a great friend of her parents and also Sammy, although they no longer spoke.

Both boys liked to run around the gardens and vast fields, full of pokemon that Professor Oak had. They used to have fun playing games and investigating while walking around. Gary was a very daring, stubborn and proud boy and on the part of him Ash used to be very considerate, cheerful and adventurous. They complemented each other very well and whenever they could they spent it together, from summer afternoons eating ice cream in Delia's garden or movie days where they were accompanied by the professor and the black-haired mother.

Ash used to talk a lot about his father to Gary. Giovanni was like a hero to his son who looked at him with eyes of greatness and like someone invincible. To the boy he was an incredible gym leader who never lost or gave up. However, the brown haired boy rarely spoke to his friend about his father and although he will have a hard time accepting it he envied in a good way that Ash had such an amazing one in his own words.

"Mom is going to be upset", Ash said walking alongside Gary through the lush trees of a small forest. After letting his clothes dry for a while in the sun, they decided to go home as the star king began to descend on the horizon.

"Don't be a crybaby", Gary laughed. "Anyway, that cast will be removed tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, but ..." Ash replied, "look at this thing! Besides, if Mom knows we jumped from so high she will scold us".

"Then let's not tell him", Gary smiled and put his index finger against his mouth as a sign of silence. "At least you won't need that cast anymore, so it'll be more fun".

"I would have liked dad to sign it", Ash commented, patting his cast. That now it was dirty and wet.

"It's strange that he didn't come to see you after you fell"

"Mom says he has a lot of work, I only saw him one night when Mom went to look for him in city. I forgot to ask him to sign my cast then".

"Your father don't come to town that often anymore, do you?", Gary asked as they walked over a fallen tree.

He held out his hand to his friend to help him climb over the tree blocking the path, most likely it would have fallen in the storm from a few days ago.

"He always calls us, but since before that night he visited us, he has been less", Ash answered, looking up where he could make out faint rays of sunlight that sneaked through the leaves of the trees. "I think that It's been a month since the last time I saw him, , I hope he comes back soon", he said while smiling.

"Well at least you look at him from time to time, I haven't seen my father in a long time", Gary's tone of voice sounded melancholy.

They continued on their way through the forest, Gary had a stick in his hands with that hit the air playing time by time removed branches that were in the way. Ash had always thought that his friend was very strong, but he also understood that it hurt Gary not to have a mother with him and that it bothered him that his father had chosen his job to be by his side.

It was something else they both shared, absent parents. Although for Ash it was different because he grew up watching his father come and go from home. He used to understand the situation and thought that the time he could spend with his father should be made the most of it. Sometimes it was difficult for him not to be able to see him every day as he wanted, but he could call him and hear the stories of him in the gym. Instead, Gary he did not look at his father, but he didn't talk much to him either.

When Giovanni came home he always brought gifts for Ash and his mother and they spent whole days together, playing, laughing, sharing like a normal family. But he always had to return to Viridian City. At nights Ash thought a lot about the idea of living with his father permanently. But he knew that he and his mother should be in Pallet Town because there was their house and their friends. He couldn't live happily in the city without seeing his friend Gary, and Professor Oak every day, who was like a grandfather to him and taught him about pokemon. Ash also thought that soon in a few years Professor Oak would give him a pokemon companion to start his journey. Ash imagined that maybe then he could go to the city and compete against his father. So he thought about preparing a lot to do his best and get a medal from his father. So him would be very proud of him, the gym leader's little son thought.

The sun was setting almost completely on the horizon, the environment had an orange hue. Those were the beautiful autumn afternoons in Paleta Town that the townspeople boasted about. Gary and Ash walked out of the woods on the outskirts of town. A dusty road would lead them back home. They stopped for a while to watch the sunset, which was drawn like a beautiful painting similar to the ones that hung on the walls of the Oak house. The two boys walked together for a while while chatting about their day which had started with lunch at Delia's house. Then a visit to the professor's laboratory and finished with them walking through the forest of Pueblo Paleta as so many times before. When they reached the fork in the path that would send them one way to the little white house and the other to the ridge where Professor Oak's farm was, they both smiled with almost no light around them.

"I think I'll go home", Ash said in a tired tone. "My mom must be waiting for me by now".

"Yeah, my grandfather must be worried too, it was fun today", Gary put a hand on the back of his neck.

"I'll see you tomorrow after I go to the hospital, Gary", Ash smiled pointing to his yellowish cast.

"Okay, I'll be in Grandpa's lab helping with the pokemon", Following this he shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "See you later then"

"Yeah see you soon", They both turned and walked in opposite directions.

Ash and Gary had the same dream, to become pokemon masters. Although for different reasons. One wanted to be one to make his father proud and be like him. Instead, the other wanted to follow a different path from his father. He wanted to train and become strong next to his pokemon, he did not want to study them. Only time would tell if they would achieve their goals.

Delia took a look through the window of her room, she hoped that Ash would come home soon, it was late and she didn't like that he was alone outside when it got dark. She looked at the clock on the wall. Seven minutes had passed since she came out of the bathroom. Her hands were shaking. She have to go back for the plastic toothpick waiting for her on the toilet. After a few days with discomforts that she thought were due to a stomach disease. She decided to do a home pregnancy test. Doubt gnawed at her. She looked at the plastic toothpick and took it with her eyes closed. When she dared to open them two little pink lines made her shudder from head to toe. She put a hand to her chest and felt the floor under her feet move. She gripped the sink tightly and closed her eyes trying to ease the dizziness that was beginning to threaten her. Well she thought, she was a married woman and she was pregnant, it was good news, right? She couldn't say that it surprised her. But if she made her think of many things that made her uneasy.

"Mom! I'm back," she heard Ash's voice calling her.

"Alright darling, now I see you", she screamed leaving the plastic toothpick in the trash can.

She wet her face, the warm water helping to calm her thoughts. She looked at herself in the mirror before leaving to meet her son. She thought of calling her husband that night, but the idea quickly faded from her head. She was not the best thing to talk on the phone, she preferred to see him in person. However, Delia was not able to see her husband face to face because Giovanni had not returned to Pallet Town, claiming that he had important things to attend to in the city such as the gym and the reopening of the casino in Azulona, among other things.

* * *

Present.

"Boss, the team we sent to watch over Cipriani was discovered"

Giovanni tensed and a wrinkle creased his forehead. He was frowning a lot lately. If he continued like this he would grow old in the blink of an eye. He swiveled in his chair to the window behind him. He stood silently looking at the natural landscape of Mahogany city, clasped his hands in front of him.

"Do we have casualties?", He asked in a calm tone to his subordinate who was waiting standing near the door.

"No sir, the team we sent was of few men and they were able to escape, only one is serious. They all receive medical attention at our facilities".

"I'll see they later, you can leave", The guard left the office.

Three weeks before, he had learned the name of the man who manipulated the threads of the mysterious men that moved through Kanto invading the territories of Team Rocket. He commissioned his executive Petrel to investigate Leo Cipriani who turned out to be a businessman just like him. This man mainly moves in Hoenn and used to appear in finance magazines as a great investor. He was the owner of several charitable hospitals and had recently purchased a research laboratory in Kanto, and was beginning to do business in the region and also in Johto. After Atlas did not find the report about his family on Route 7, where Cipriani's man had told him it was, Giovanni began to worry more about this matter. He didn't know if that report had gotten to Cipriani or if it was just an ace up the sleeve of the guy they captured to let go.

In addition, after returning from the casino in Azulona city, he had received a call from his manager who was also a member of Team Rocket, he had informed him about the visit of an International Police agent who was very interested in talking with customers and also wanted an appointment to chat with the owner. Giovanni was now dealing with two problems at the same time on the one hand Cipriani and on the other this agent, Looker, who did not give him a good feeling.

His men hadn't accomplished much by following Leo Cipriani and the Black Knights continued to sneak into his territory, interfering with his business. He was starting to get fed up with this situation, and he knew that he would very surely end up meeting Leo Cipriani head-on soon, so he should be prepared. This man seemed to mock his intelligence by always being one step ahead of him. The crime lord was feeling upset and was making it known against anyone who will approach him in recent days, he was more sullen and did not sleep well at night. He hadn't been back to Pallet Town for almost three months now. Giovanni remembered with longing the last time he was with them. The quiet dinner he shared with his wife and son, feeling so relaxed. He had cooked for them that time, the Viridian gym specialty as he called his spaghetti peperoncino. Since then he had only called them on the phone a few times and those calls were now being delayed further and further by the whole mess with the Black Knights and their infuriating puppeteer. The decision not to return was due to the fear he felt that Leo Cipriani will find them and use them against him. He didn't want his mood to affect them either.

He looked at the phone on the desk, he really wanted to hear the sweet voice of his wife and the anecdotes of his son. He rummaged in the inside pockets of his coat for a moment and took out the keys to his apartment, laid them on the desk and then took out his cell phone but it wasn't the one he needed. He eventually found his other cell phone the one he used to use to communicate solely with his family. Upon unlocking the screen a photograph of his son and his wife appeared. A smile crossed his face without realizing it. He waited patiently as the call connected, very attentive to the sound on the line. When he heard Delia's voice on the other side, he felt the fatigue and stress of those days leave his body.

"Giovanni?"

"Yes dear", He leaned back in his executive chair and put his feet up on the desk.

"How are you? You haven't called in a long time", Delia's tone of concern did not go unnoticed by her husband.

"Sorry, there were a lot of problems to attend to here", Giovanni closed his eyes as he focused on the voice of his woman on the other end of the line.

"But are you okay, Gio?", Delia was laying on the couch in the living room with Ash next to her who had fallen asleep while watching a movie.

"Yes, don't worry, how are you two?".

"We're fine...", Delia paused while stroking her son's hair. "Ash misses you a lot, we haven't seen you for months ..."

"I'm going to make it up to you, I promise… but I can't go home yet".

"I need to see you soon, I need to tell you something important", Delia's voice contained a slight tone of concern.

"What happens?", Giovanni fiddled with a pen in his free hand, passing it between his fingers.

"I've wanted to tell you for a while, but I wanted it to be in person", She hesitated for a moment. "'I am..."

A knock on Giovanni's door made him abruptly cut off the call and quickly collect himself in his chair.

"Go ahead", he replied with annoyance.

"Sir…", An agent poked his head through the door as he looked into the boss's cold and angry gaze. He gulped. "I'm sorry sir, but Dr. Fuji is here".

Giovanni nodded and waved his hand for him to stand back, the agent left. The gym leader looked at the cell phone in his hand and cursed under his breath. He hoped he could call Delia again later and apologize for cutting off the call. After going through some old files of his mother, he had found an old investigation into a mysterious pokemon named Mew. He was very interested in its psychic ability and overwhelming power. So he wanted to conclude with that idea of his mother and create for himself the strongest pokemon with which to face any challenge.

Delia put the phone on the table next to the sofa and stroked her son's hair again. Her call had been cut off just as she was about to tell her husband about the news of her pregnancy. She sighed wearily. She then she began to slowly call her son to wake up and go to sleep in his bed.

"Mommy?", Ash said sleepily as he rubbed his face.

"Come on honey, you must go to sleep in your bed".

"Good, good," he stood up and walked with his mother holding hands. "Mommy I dreamed of Daddy."

"What did you dream of?", He asked him as they climbed the stairs.

"That she came to see us and didn't leave anymore."

Delia gently squeezed her son's cheek. She didn't say anything else, it was a very nice dream. She took Ash to sleep and that night she too dreamed of Giovanni staying by her side. She dreamed of him carrying Ash while she held a small bundle of blankets in her arms with a wide smile on her face. It was a nice dream.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6. Enemy.

The morning had started in Viridian city as it always used to with its streets packed with people and cars coming and going. It was the rush hour in the morning when people went to work or school. At the city police station, the detectives and policemen already had thousands of forms to fill out, people to imprison, cases to follow and also hot and strong coffee to drink, accompanied by their respective amount of sugar necessary to face the day, this one was coming in good shape of donuts.

"Hey Looker!", A uniformed man yelled from the hallway leading to the building's elevator.

"What's up O'hara?", He asked filling his coffee cup.

"They called from the gym and said the leader has agreed to speak to you if you arrive before twenty minutes"

Looker quickly emptied his coffee cup into a thermos, grabbing a glazed donut with one hand and the thermos with the other as he scooped a paper napkin into his mouth. And he hurried to the elevator. He had been trying to meet Giovanni, the gym leader for a week, but he had only gotten refusals from his secretary, who told him that he was busy. That he had business to attend to at Azulona, or that he was at Johto. Looker found that extremely interesting. Wasn't a leader supposed to wait for challengers in the gym? Although he also assumed later that being an important businessman he had to move a lot. He skillfully drove through the car-flooded streets and took a shortcut through a desolate and smelly alley. O'hara had told him that if he wanted to get there on time he should follow that route. When Looker pulled up to the curb in front of the gym he looked at his watch, he had just barely made it. He felt like a professional race racer and got out of the car with a confident stride. His first battle of the day was won by arriving on time. When he entered the gym he looked at the Roman-type moldings on the ceiling. He had found them very interesting since the first time he went there a week before. Giovanni's secretary, who was in fact an undercover agent for Team Rocket, was the one who greeted him with a polite smile.

"Detective, we were expecting you", He held out his hand to greet him. Looker rushed to greet the brown-haired boy in front of him.

"Can I finally see your boss?", He asked, arching one of his bushy eyebrows.

"Yes, the leader Giovanni has returned last night from Mahogany city, today he asked us to call you", They began to walk towards the stairs at the end of a long corridor of terracotta-colored walls. "He has not plenty of time today, he must attend a charity dinner tonight and fill out paperwork from the gym and from casino in Azulona"

"He's a very busy man", Looker said looking at a painting of Persian that was on the wall in front of the stairs. As he climbed these he wondered what it would be like to meet this leader in person. He would know soon he thought.

"Yes, he always has a lot of business to attend to", The young man stopped in front of the double wooden door. "This way please"

When the door opened and the secretary announced his arrival, Looker's gaze went to the huge window at the back that had a wide view of the city and especially the tall man who was looking through it, dressed in black pants and a white shirt, which he would later realize was not wearing a tie. The office was modern and elegant. But it seemed to him to be very impersonal, there was nothing he could look at to get an idea about the person who worked there.

"I'm glad we're finally meeting", Giovanni commented, turning to see his guest.

"I'm retiring sir", Agent Rocket said who worked as his secretary. Giovanni nodded.

"You have been very difficult to find", Looker extended his hand towards the gym leader. A quick handshake and then Giovanni pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

"Take a seat, detective..." He paused as if trying to remember his name.

"I'm Looker", the detective told him in a calm voice, sitting in the chair. Giovanni smiled slightly and also sat down.

"Tell me, Looker, how can I help you?", He said, leaning his back a little against the back of the chair.

"I have been sent here from the International Police", Giovanni made a quick gesture with his eyebrows that went up and down gently as if he wanted made noticing his little interest.

"What's that got to do with the gym?", The leader asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"With the gym nothing", he answered, glancing at the desk that was spotless. He had only one paperweight in the shape of a glass pyramid. A gray folder and a black Chinese pen with Giovanni's initial letter on the side of it. "I would like to know what does a man think of his power about Team Rocket?"

Giovanni looked at him carefully as if analyzing him. Then he leaned forward putting his elbows on the fine wood of his desk, his fingers intertwining below his chin.

"As long as they don't get in my way, I'm not interested," he replied with such coldness and apathy that he made Looker feel like he was facing a deep-staring demon. His dark eyes looked at him in a calm, yet strangely hostile way.

"Are you not interested in the people of your city then? Or the pokemon? Isn't a gym leader supposed to be faithful to the pokemon?" His voice had a hint of annoyance that it pleased the crime lord.

A small silence reigned for a moment. Giovanni smirked.

"Do you know why I'm a gym leader?", Looker shook his head. "You see when I was a child I didn't have anything of my own, everything around me didn't belong to me, at least not for my own merit. I set out to be a gym leader to making myself strong. Getting to this position was only the first step stone to the top of where I now conduct my business"

"What if Team Rocket interferes with your view from the top?"

"I'd get them out of the way, but I don't think they'll get in the way"

"Why are you so sure?", Looker asked curiously.

"In all these years nothing has happened", he replied calmly with a cunning smile.

"Well then sir, could you tell me about the casino in Azulona, who are your clients?"

"I don't think it's a question I should answer, detective. If you want a list, bring a warrant, Although I think it will be difficult considering the background of my business group"

Looker realized that talking to Giovanni and get out with something of relevance would be difficult. The leader was a firm and authoritative man. They had warned him that it was not easy to deal with. Looker stood up with a sigh of surrender.

"I guess, that I won't made you waste any more time then. Thanks for your time"

Giovanni got up too and gave the detective a haughty look. Looker thought that this man was definitely hiding a lot behind his impassive and greedy facade. Now he was more than interested in the gym leader and especially in those businesses that he was so proud of.

"It's been a pleasure detective, it's always good to help and cooperate with our police department", Looker felt that he was being teased and frowned. He nodded and headed for the door.

The visit to the gym had not been very productive but now he had a line that was too seductive for his case to follow, he thought as he jotted down Giovanni's name in his little notebook, then circled it with a quick movement of his pen against the paper. Looker took one last look at the front of the gym and started driving out of town to head for Route 7, where some of the Team Rocket soldiers had recently been spotted.

Delia was watering the plants in her front garden when she heard her son calling her from the house. A moment later he was with her. The little one was wearing a net and a wide boater hat.

"Mom, I'm going", Ash said excitedly.

"Ash, son, be careful", his mother told him, adjusting him hat with affection. "Remember not to go too far, do not go deep into the woods and be careful with wild pokemon"

"Sure Mom, don't worry, we'll be fine"

"Okay sweetie", Delia kissed her son's cheeks and watched him run off toward Gary Oak's house and his grandfather.

That day they would be playing as usual among the wide fields of Pueblo Paleta. Just as she and Sammy had done when they were kids. The happy memory of her childhood made her feel nostalgic. The sun was beginning to hit harder high in the sky. However, the weather was beginning to change, winter was just around the corner. A stream of icy air hit her skin and made her locks of brown hair dance. She finished putting water on her plants and went back inside the house. She made herself a cup of hot chocolate and sat down to read for a while, one of the old books that Giovanni had left on one of his visits. Those days she no longer felt uncomfortable, the initial discomforts of the pregnancy had passed. Her belly was still a bit flat, but Delia believed that soon she would begin to show. Her husband had sent a text message apologizing for cutting off her call, but he hadn't called her again. The gym leader's wife was beginning to worry. Giovanni had never behaved like that. He seemed like now he didn't want to go home and not be in touch with them either. She was beginning to doubt the actions of her husband. She put a hand to her belly and caressed it gently. She hoped that he would show up there soon.

After drinking her cup of chocolate and reading a good part of the book, he set about doing some chores around the house. As she searched for dirty clothes in her energetic son's room, she came across a drawing that Ash had made. Three figures could be seen, one of them with a dark suit and a serious face that she deduced was her husband, which made her smile with amusement. Another figure was small and tousled black hair with a big grin from ear to ear. This small figure was in the middle of the drawing and was held by the hands of the first drawing of a serious face and of a third pink and brown-haired figure that he quickly knew was her. That piece of art must be to displayed proudly on the refrigerator, so she folded it and put it in her pocket. When she was about to leave the boy's room she was surprised by the reflection of her coming from Ash's mirror. She looked at her face that despite the fatigue of those days looked radiant. She smiled thinking that pregnancy did magic sometimes. She studied her body in detail for a moment. She turned on her side trying to see if her belly was showing, but it didn't stand out much. She wondered what her husband would think of her when he saw her with a full belly. She imagined him with a cute face of the kind that only she had seen while he stroked a swollen belly. Shook her head shaking that idea and smiled like a schoolgirl in love. She left the boy's room with a basket of dirty clothes and started to go to the laundry room. Delia will take advantage then of the fact that Ash was out and will sleep a while, lately she was very sleepy at noon.

Giovanni watched as he stood in front of the huge glass window in his office, he was in one of the great buildings of Viridian city. It was there that he carried out his facet as a visionary entrepreneur of the region and not just the exceptional gym leader of the city. He was respected and also feared and he liked that.

The man watched through the glass as life took its normal course through the streets of Viridian. His hands rested behind his back, intertwining each other. Looker's visit that morning had gone well. At least that's what Giovanni thought. He did not strike her as a detective who stood out from the many others who previously handled the Team Rocket case. But he should give him credit for being the first to go looking for him. Giovanni hoped that him to stop sticking his nose in his path at least for a while while he dealt with Cipriani. But since it used to be his wary nature, he put an agent Rocket to follow the gray-eyed detective. Better to keep an eye on him and avoid an unexpected and unpleasant surprise later. After seeing Looker he had worked on the paperwork for the gym that it had accumulated these days and also for the casino. He telephoned the Mahogany City base and had a long conversation with Dr. Fuji, who was making good progress in his research on Mew, the Pokémon his mother had tried to get before. If all went well, he would soon begin the practical work of the investigation and would soon have in his possession an extremely powerful pokemon.

However, despite having a long day at work, his mind had remained immersed in an idea. That was the benefit dinner he was going to attend. He was never worried about these social events, but now he had great interest. He closed his eyes briefly, and took a slow breath in an attempt to calm heis anxiety. He had been feeling uneasy, but also excited by the idea of finally coming face to face tonight with the infuriating puppeteer Leo Cipriani was to him.

"Sir, the car is ready", One of his agents snapped him out of his thoughts, turned, and started walking toward the door. The time had finally come to confront this impetuous rival.

Kanto's annual charity party helding that night and would be attended by all the important personalities of the region from businessmen and celebrities, to gym leaders and bureaucrats. It was a good place to strengthen business and social relationships as well as to complete business. Giovanni seldom attended events of this nature and greatly avoided appearing in public, but this time a singular new businessman who had just arrived in the region would make his first public appearance and he was more than anyone interested in meeting him personally.

The drive from his downtown office to the building where the party was taking place had been quick and uneventful. As he glanced out of the car window he thought of his family. It had been a long time since he had looked at them and he hadn't been able to call Delia again. He was worried that his wife would start asking questions that he couldn't answer. He had to take care of Cipriani and the Black Knights soon if he wanted to go back to Pallet Town and redeem himself with Ash and Delia for all the time that had kept them relegated. When he got out of the car a cool breeze hit his face and then the bright flashes of the press cameras stunned him, but he did not stop nor did he show that it bothered him greatly. He walked with a confident stride followed by his bodyguard who trying to keep the cameras away from the their boss. But this was a really difficult task. Everyone wanted a photo of the blazing gym leader. Because it was the first time in a long time that he had been seen in public. Reporters wanted to quench their thirst for information, fill the headlines with the best photo of the most powerful man in town. That entrepreneur and gym leader enigmatic and reserved, and why was this man so rigid and cautious? What was hiding behind that mask of cold personality? Many had been the questions that revolved around the leader of the gym in the city, but few that had been answered. One of his main reasons was that no one should find out about his wife and son in Pallet Town. His private life was to be kept secret. He was careful about what he shared and also about his public appearances. His activities with Team Rocket was the other reason for him, no one would imagine that it was he who moved from the shadows the threads of that problematic and feared organization.

Giovanni's footsteps echoed down the corridor with its white walls and small chandeliers at the sides. He was well dressed in a black tuxedo and white shirt, a dark vest stood out from his jacket and a black bow tie added the finishing touch. Giovanni put his right hand in his trouser pocket and entered the party with an aura of self-sufficiency and power that he combined splendidly. Soon the eyes of those present were on him, all surprised that he will show up that night, there must be a very powerful reason for that. He was met by the head of the public affairs directorate of the city of Viridian, who upon seeing him approached him with a smile on his face.

"It's nice to see you around here Giovanni", He greeted in a familiar tone, he was a young man with short red hair, he had blue eyes and a kind face.

The Team Rocket leader readily recognized his childhood friend. A boy who grew up like him under the leadership of an authoritarian and distant parent. At the time when his mother's organization was run by herself, the father of the now director of public affairs had been an important pillar, being the executive closest to the woman and in whom he fully trusted. Eric Phillips, was the only person in the entire city who knew of the existence of Ash and Delia. When they grew up and got off their parents' radar, Giovanni set about landing the position of gym leader. He worked hard and he succeeded. Eric decided to leave Team Rocket behind even with the disapproval of his father, he went to college and pursued a career in local politics that until now continued to prosper. Giovanni always behaved in a reserved and cautious manner. He always had contingency plans for everything. So if something went wrong he had a backup. That had saved him much trouble and loss. He never lost contact with Eric and always kept him up to date on Team Rocket operations because, although Eric will not accept it, he would be a fundamental member of the organization forever. He had helped him from his local political position many times in the past. The crime lord knew very well that if one day everything failed and he needed someone to support his family, it would be Eric Phillips.

"Eric...", the crime lord replied kindly. "It's good to see you old friend", he genuinely smiled.

"What is the reason our great gym leader honored us with his presence today?", Eric asked in a charismatic tone, while patting down Giovanni's back, few were those who could afford that luxury.

"Maybe even I curious about our new friend in the region, don't you think?"

"Ah, so that's it", said the man raising an eyebrow. "They say he's an interesting man"

"It's what I've heard too. You know they say that he loves to venture into new businesses"

"Uhmm", Eric raised an eyebrow and leaned a little closer to Giovanni. "I'll be watching his movements too", he whispered, then quickly moved away with a sneaky smile. "Well, nice to see you, enjoy the night"

"Same Eric", Giovanni nodded and shook the public affairs director's hand and they parted between the crowd.

The Team Rocket leader mingled among the crowd. He walked calmly and quietly while carefully observing what was around him. He took care of the details, the sounds, the people who chatted, drank, and ate snacks. He drank a whiskey on the rocks while watching some people dance in the center of the floor. His strong gaze swept the place in an analysis, cautiously searching for Leo Cipriani in the crowd.

He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, turned his face a little and gave a look of annoyance. Immediately one of his escorts was taking the forearm of the man dressed in black who was holding the Rocket boss.

"You have the guts to approach like this," Giovanni said in a dismissive tone.

His dark, suffocating gaze settled on the man in front of him and Giovanni smiled, but in a sinic and hostile way that made his blood run cold and made the man recoil, who hesitantly looked into him eyes.

"Come with me please", he said quietly, "my boss wants to see you" The man lowered his gaze and began to walk.

Giovanni in other circumstances would have ignored the guy in front of him. However, he knew well who would end up being his boss, that was the man of the moment, Leo Cipriani. So he, followed by his security agent, followed the man to a balcony, who opened the door for him and stood at the entrance, making sure that no one was disturbing them.

The air was rushing with strength outside, it was a rainy night and the balcony was freezing. Giovanni felt a chill run down his spine, the security agent accompanying him was behind him and seemed to have reacted like him. The crime lord looked at the figure of a tall man looking out of the balcony towards the streets of Viridian city that were full of cars and people and that shone with the lights of a metropolis that he knew how to enjoy the nights very well. His back was to them and Giovanni took a few steps forward, gesturing with his hand to his agent to wait behind him.

"So we finally meet, Giovanni", said the man, turning and showing himself.

Clad in a navy blue tuxedo without a tie, Leo Cipriani smiled diplomatically at the gym leader. He was an older man in his fifties, with graying hair that must once have been black, but now he had a few streaks of gray on his sides. His eyes were cold and deep. Of a blue color like the sky that seemed under the light of the night the water in the middle of the ocean. He leaned against the balcony railing, crossing his arms in front of him. He had a well-trimmed beard and was somewhat heavyset.

Giovanni thought he recognized that voice. He couldn't quite remember from where. But there was a familiar touch on it, and this man's eyes flashed into his mind like a distant, fuzzy memory. He was confused for a moment, but his unflappable countenance didn't give him away.

"It is a very beautiful city", Leo Cipriani commented, turning his face a little to see the streets below. "I visited a restaurant a few nights ago, good food and wine", he said as he began to walk towards Giovanni. "There is nothing that likes me more than good wine and a business well done"

Giovanni listened to him attentively as he watched him carefully. The tension in the air was getting heavier.

"Business well done is my specialty", the crime lord declared quietly.

"I know", Cipriani replied with a haughty smile. "I also know that you're not what you say" His dry voice entered Giovanni's ears and red alarms went off in his head.

"So?", He raised an eyebrow and moved a few steps around Cipriani without taking his eyes off him. "And what am I according to you?"

Cipriani gave a sinic laugh that exasperated the gym leader.

"I was hoping you would tell me", he whispered, leaning toward Giovanni.

The black-haired's hands clenched into fists at his side. The report surely had existed and if it had reached Cipriani he thought with fear.

"You know, maybe you don't understand yet", Cipriani continued. "But I've been after you for a long time", That statement surprised the gym leader.

"Who the hell are you really? What do you want from me?", He asked in annoyance.

"You'll have to find out for yourself"

"Don't play with me", replied the crime lord of Kanto raising his voice and approached Cipriani furiously. "You don't understand where you're getting"

"The typical words of a child with an air of superiority", Cipriani said mockingly. "Look, I like children, but right now you have under your control what does not belong to you"

A bulging vein was marked on Giovanni's forehead who could not understand the words of the man in front of him. What the hell did he owe this guy and why?

"Right now you are interfering with my plans", Cipriani continued speaking with a dry and at the same time calm tone. "All Kanto will be mine, you can't stop me. You better back off boy before you get hurt, I won't be nice to you anymore"

"Is it a threat?", Asked the gym leader with hiss. "I am the lord and master of this region, what makes you think that I will just step aside leaving everything to you?"

Leo Cipriani shook his head as if refusing to hear more than Giovanni was saying. Suddenly the man walked a few steps towards the gym leader and took him by the lapels of his tuxedo making him very close to his face, Giovanni gestured with his arm to his agent not to intervene.

"Listen to me well, 'Giovanni', don't play with the devil because you will may regret it", he sentenced, giving him a look of pride, fury and contained threat.

The Team Rocket leader felt the blood rush through his veins with fury and when he was about to slap Cipriani's hands away, a fleeting memory of childhood made him suddenly feel intimidated by something he was not used to feeling. Those damn eyes made him feel familiarly scared. Leo Cipriani released him from his grasp and smiled with mock friendliness that he then framed threateningly. He fixed Giovanni's tuxedo jacket by gently smoothing the fabric.

"Watch your back, I won't be condescending with you as I have been before", He passed Giovanni's side, returning to the party.

Giovanni was stuck on the floor, he couldn't move, or he didn't want to.

"Sir", the voice of his security agent brought him out of his reverie, "Are you okay?", He asked a little scared.

"Of course", he turned, looking at the man. "We're leaving right now"

Delia looked at the sky from the window of her room, the night was particularly cold but she did not care, she liked to look at the stars at night while she imagined that in Viridian City her husband did the same. A stream of icy wind made her hold her hair. She looked up at the dark sky where twinkling stars shone.

She had a few nights without good sleep. A strange sensation had lodged in her chest, the feeling that something was wrong. She was past the initial discomforts of pregnancy and she was more comfortable with the idea of a second baby. Her son was fully recovered from his arm and he was the same fun and loving boy as ever. Which should make her feel calm. But, nevertheless, that feeling of anguish and despair continued to nest in her chest. It must have been because of Giovanni's estrangement. The one she hadn't been able to talk to, she thought. Fear of his reaction to the baby perhaps. She didn't know it, but she felt on constant alert as if waiting for something bad to happen.

She closed the window and went to her bed, she should rest at least a little. She sat on the edge of the bed and glanced at the photograph of Ash next to his father that she kept on the nightstand. A loving smile spread across her face. When she was about to stretch her arm to take the wooden frame that her son had made and adorned with macaroni, she heard the barking of a poochyena in the distance. Her mother used to say that this was not a good omen on a cold night like this. Delia refused to give much thought to the idea that maybe if something happened in Viridian city with her husband. She lay down on the bed and covered herself with some blankets that night it would be very cold. She wondered what was making her husband now, would he feel like her? Delia smiled thinking that she did know him well, she would be reading or writing in her diaries about earth type pokemon, that he was his favorite.


	7. Attack

Chapter 7. Attack

Giovanni left through the emergency door of the building to avoid running into again the obnoxious and stressful representatives of the local press. Freezing air was rushing, but it had stopped raining and the sky was beginning to clear. The stars could be seen appearing in the dark immensity of the Viridian sky. He quickly tapped his fingers against the screen of his phone, sent the text message, and tucked the phone inside his tuxedo jacket.

"Where to sir?", Asked him driver looking at him in the rear view mirror.

"To my apartment", he said in a dry tone.

When he was in his apartment, he angrily removed his jacket and tossed it on an armchair in the living room. He angrily removed the bow tie from around his neck trying to feel liberated. His encounter with Leo Cipriani had left him with a sense of defeat that he was not used to. He dropped heavily into the same modern-looking chair and put his left foot on the coffee table that was made of metal and glass. He ran a hand through his hair anxiously. He didn't know why he felt that Leo Cipriani was not a total stranger. His blue eyes, and deep as his, made him uneasy in a way he didn't recognize. He cursed under his breath as he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket. He hurriedly lit one and raised it to his lips. He usually didn't smoke there, he hated that the smell would permeate. But right now that didn't matter to him. He heard a knock on the door.

"Ahead!", Giovanni yelled as he blew out some smoke.

Eric Phillips appeared with a straight face as he carried an old file box. He went over to his old friend and gave him an annoyed squinting look.

"Man, what are you doing?, You should put that shit down”,The redhead dropped the box to the ground and moved his hands from side to side, trying to disperse the tobacco smoke.

Giovanni rolled his eyes and stood up to go to the sliding glass door that led to a small balcony that had a very good view of the city. He slid it slightly without opening it completely and reached out to let the smoke fade into the atmosphere.

"You found them?", He asked, leaning against the glass.

"Yes, everything is here, I also left a boxes outside", Eric threw himself on an couch.

After leaving the party, Giovanni had contacted his friend and asked him to go find the old Team Rocket files that were kept in an underground warehouse under the old offices of the organization. That request caught the director of public affairs by surprise, who quickly assumed that the meeting with Cipriani had not gone well.

"Leo Cipriani" Giovanni paused. "we must know who he really is"

Eric made a confused face and scratched the back of his neck.

"And what makes you think you'll find that out in the old Team Rocket files?"

"I don't know", the gym leader replied as he went to the kitchen. "I just think..." He continued, raising his voice a little so that his partner would hear him well. He got some water bottles from the refrigerator, tossed the cigarette butt in the trash, and went back to Eric. "His voice sounded familiar to me"

"His voice?", He asked as he took the bottle of water that Giovanni offered him.

"It's weird, it has caused me a strange feeling, as if I had already talked to him before", Giovanni sat down in the couch in front of his partner.

"Do you think it's a former member?", Eric asked raising an eyebrow.

Giovanni didn't answer, he drank some water and then waved for Eric to pass him the box.

"If so, it shouldn't be difficult to find him"

"But don't you think that if that were the case, you would recognize him with the naked eye?"

"Not if his appearance has changed. Look, this guy has something that bothers me more than it should, so he starts looking", he threw a folder at Eric who deftly caught it.

After a few hours rummaging through a pile of old files without finding much, Giovanni exhaled in exasperation.

"It can't be that I'm not here", He stood up abruptly and pulled out another cigarette that he lit in annoyance.

Eric looked at Giovanni for a moment. It seemed to him that there was fear and worry on his face rather than frustration and annoyance. He understood that the crime lord was being consumed by that situation, he must have felt exposed to Cipriani. His mind most likely was on his wife and child, he wanted to keep them safe. That had always been his priority and now things seemed to want to get out of his control.

"I'm going to visit the old man's house", Eric announced in a calm voice as he got to his feet. Giovanni looked at him carefully. He knew that Eric didn't talk to his father much after leaving Team Rocket and that their relationship had been distant until Mads Phillips died a few years ago. "He must have kept files more important than these", He kicked a box out of his way.

Giovanni nodded, smoking from the sliding balcony door. Eric gave him a tired look and smirked. He really hoped to find something that would help in this situation.

"I'll call you if I find something"

The crime lord spent the night awake searching his memories for the face of Leo Cipriani. He knew that cold gaze had haunted him before but he didn't know where. He watched through the window of his room, outside he was beginning to clear up. He rolled over in bed as he closed his eyes trying to sleep. His hair was tousled and he was only wearing the tuxedo pants. He thought about Delia and Ash, he missed them a lot but now more than he should never avoid communicating with them. He didn't want to put them in danger. His phone started ringing insistent but he didn't want to answer. He let the mailbox answer. When the sound stopped he reached for the phone on the nightstand. He listened carefully to the voice of his executive Petrel. The message was clear, the Black Knights had attacked one of the Team Rocket hideouts where they kept illegal equipment that they distributed throughout the region, they were taken by surprise and the damage was extensive. Giovanni cursed out loud and almost jumped out of bed to go take a quick shower, he had to deal with that situation quickly.

After that attack on Team Rocket's lair, Leo Cipriani began to move more of his men throughout Kanto causing riots and fights over the territories that Team Rocket had under his control. Attacking strategic locations that increasingly convinced Giovanni that his rival knew more than he should about Team Rocket.

In public Leo Cipriani was charismatic and friendly. He was adored by the press and began to have more presence in the strong businesses of the region. Giovanni had decided to close the gym for a while and move to one of the dens outside Viridian City that was rarely used and known only to a few in the organization. It was an old four-story building that often served as a warehouse.

Before, the crime lord had been annoyed at always finding the Black Knights in his way. Now it was like having a stone stuck in your shoe that couldn't be easily removed. It was as if that damn man always knew very well what his next step would be. After seeing him face to face, everything got worse, so Giovanni decided to rush Dr. Fuji's investigations into his laboratory in Mahogany City.

It had been two weeks since Eric told him that he would visit his father's house for more old files. He had no longer contacted him which had him worried. He felt tired and stressed. And now having to be in the little office in the old Rocket lair made him sick. It wasn't a modern, big place like his base in Caoba or his lair in Celadon, but he had to settle for that if he wanted to go unnoticed, so now from there he planned his moves against Leo Cipriani.

"I think you'd better go together with Ariana and Proton to Mahogany City, Petrel", Giovanni said sitting behind his desk to his executive who was a trusted man for Chief Rocket.

"But don't you need me here sir?" The man with the thin complexion and purple hair questioned.

"You'd better support Dr. Fuji, I need to secure our base in the city, we cannot allow Cipriani to continue meddling with our plans.

"I understand sir", the executive, bowed their heads in agreement and respect.

"I left this in your hands", Giovanni waved his hand in approval and watched Petrel leave the office.

When the tired-looking executive left the office Giovanni leaned back in his executive chair. That space made him feel suffocated, it was too small, he thought. The walls were gray and there were no windows, he liked being able to appreciate what was always outside. But this time he could only settle for his computer monitor giving him images from the cameras outside.

The phone on his jacket began to ring. He heavily he put it in front of his face, the initials of his old friend appeared on the screen and he rushed to answer.

"Hey, what…

"Giovanni", Eric interrupted with a broken voice.

"Where are you Eric?", Giovanni hurried to ask, thinking of various bad situations.

"Leo… Cipriani, he is…", He heard the sound of running footsteps and then the noise caused by a heavy blow on the other end of the line.

"Eric?" What's happen Eric?”, He stood up clutching the phone with strong. The short line and red alarms jumped around the gym leader.

The screen on his desk went completely black. There was no time to think of anything else when his ears were flooded by the blast of something coming from outside. He felt the ground shake under his feet. He hurriedly tucked his phone into his pants pocket and left the office. The place was beginning to fill with smoke and a haze of dust.

"Sir, we're under attack", one of the Rocket guards hurriedly informed him, pulling the boss with him toward the emergency stairs.

"What exactly happens?", He asked covering his mouth with his forearm.

"I don't know very well. I think there was an explosion at the top, I think they hit the continuous sector to this one it's lucky they didn't hit his office"

What a bad idea to put an office on the top floor, Giovanni thought as he followed the boy in the black uniform. They hurried up the old stairs of the building that looked like they would collapse at any moment. They made a crunching noise with every step they took and vibrated making both men think they would fall. When they reached the third floor, the roof of that area began to give way, causing Giovanni to hear it creak above his head and then watch a rain of debris fall in front of them blocking all the way.

"Got damn!", Exclaimed the young agent next to him.

Giovanni's face looked calm, but in his mind he was thinking carefully about his next steps. This could ensure that it was the work of Leo Cipriani. Again he was positioned in front of him. His enemy had caught him off guard and he would not waste an opportunity to finish him off.

"Do you have your radio with you?", The Team Rocket leader asked in a calm tone to his uniformed one.

"Yes sir", he hastened to answer, while he took the radio from his belt with clumsy hands.

"Listen well, contact the others, they must evacuate quickly and go to Celadon and Mahogany"

The young member of Team Rocket nodded looking at his boss who seemed to be taking a walk in the park and not in the middle of a building about to collapse. He started making a call from his radio. On the other floors of the building were trapped men and agents who had managed to reach the spaces below and who were listening carefully. There was a call back, it was a familiar voice to Giovanni.

"Sir, they have attacked us with explosive material. We are evacuating the building quickly. We will control the situation as soon as possible to get you out of there"

Giovanni quickly reached for the radio and pressed the button that would allow him to call Archer back.

"Archer! Listen to me carefully, leave Viridian city immediately. Take everyone you can with you, don't wait for me”, His tone of voice from him was forceful, the agent next to him looked at him nervously.

"But sir...", he heard through radio almost in a distressed whisper. Archer was a bit confused on the other side. "Cipriani won't hesitate to attack us again, take all man out as many as you can and get out. It's an order Archer”, Giovanni yelled over the radio and then there was a tense silence on the line.

"Very good sir", the most loyal executive of boss Rocket finally said decisively.

Giovanni handed the radio back to the man next to him. Then he rushed to get a pokeball from behind his belt. He looked at it for a second and threw it hard. Rhydon appeared roaring furiously demonstrating why he was the strongest and most feared pokemon of the Viridian city gym leader. The pokemon the challengers feared because it was a total wall, difficult and terrifying like his trainer.

"Rhydon", the gym leader shouted. "Use Horn Drill to get us out of here"

Rhydon hit the concrete hard using the horn on his head. Almost immediately pieces of debris began to fly to the sides, a cloud of dust filled the air and a good-sized hole formed in the wall.

"Well done Rhydon", Giovanni exclaimed. "Hurry up, go that way", He looked at his agent who was standing behind him somewhat stunned. The young nodded and walked through the gap followed by his boss.

When they were on the other side they hurried down the hall to the next emergency stairs. They staggered as a second explosion rocked the building, Giovanni shoving the young against the wall to prevent him from being hit by the collapsing roof pieces. The gym leader leaned his hands against the wall to stay on his feet as everything swayed back and forth. He cast a quick glance at the ground and an idea flashed through his thoughts.

"Rhydon uses Stomp, to make the ground collapse", he ordered, pointing to a random spot on the ground.

"Wait, sir!", Shouted the agent, worried that he would have to fall from one floor to another in a building to collapse.

"Listen boy, we don't have time right now, we cannot follow this path and we must go down as soon as possible"

Giovanni looked at his pokemon that he understood well what he should do. His mighty footfall hit the ground hard. Both his coach and the Team Rocket agent felt it vibrate under his feet. The young Team Rocket agent staggered for a moment and leaned against the wall trying to keep his balance. Another hit from the pokemon made the three of them fall to the next floor. Giovanni rose heavily from the rubble, having taken a good blow when he fell. He held out his hand to the young man who had several scratches and bruises on his face, helped him to his feet, and then returned Rhydon to his pokeball.

"Nice work Rhydon", he whispered against the pokeball and hurriedly tucked it into the back of his belt.

Now they were in one of the rooms where the guards and agents used to take breaks. Everything was a desaster. A cloud of dust was beginning to disperse. Debris was everywhere. Power lines hung from a collapsed part of the ceiling. Giovanni and his agent rushed to the door, but it was stuck.

"Stand aside," Giovanni said as he stepped back a bit, then kicked the door with such force that it ended up falling to the other side and made a loud noise as it hit the ground.

When they went out into the corridor they found that it was full of smoke and they could see flames coming from the stairs that led to the lower floor where the exit should be.

"What shall we do now sir?", The agent asked dejectedly.

"Find another way out", the crime lord declared firmly and confidently.

Giovanni took off his jacket and tied the sleeves behind his head to cover his mouth and nose. The agent next to him did the same, copying his boss. The smoke was thick and blackened so they walked crouching to avoid it as much as possible. They heard noises from behind a pile of rubble that sealed off the base's supply room.

"There must be people in there", said the young agent next to Giovanni as he tried to remove some huge chunks of heavy concrete with his hands. "Is there anyone?", He yelled, waiting for an answer.

"Help", came a tired voice from the other end, "we're trapped"

"Is there smoke there?" Giovanni asked. "How many people are there?"

"Yes, there is a lot of smoke, it is drowning us, there are three of us", the voive replied, coughing heavily from behind the mountain of rubble.

"Sir, under the supply room is the main entrance"

"I understand", Giovanni said. "Rhydon", he yelled, throwing the pokeball that contained the strong pokemon. "Use Horn Drill"

The pokemon roared raising his arms and threw the horn on his head against the concrete pile in front of him. The smoke began to be heavier and Giovanni and his agent would not stop coughing as the pokemon continued with his work. However, he seemed to be beginning to be affected by the smoke as well.

"You can do it Rhydon", The pokemon looked at his trainer and kept hitting violently.

After a while that seemed like an eternity, the pokemon managed to pierce enough so that they could enter where the other agents were. They were all very young, not past the age of their boss. They were breathing heavily and when they saw their leader enter through a large hole made by his Rhydon his gaze glowed with hope. All of the Team Rocket agents were staunchly loyal to their boss and would lay down their lives for him, but they also knew that he would never leave them behind. Giovanni really appreciated his subordinates, he understood that he needed all those pieces to complete the puzzle of his victories.

"Stand aside", Giovanni ordered them as he removed a pile of rubble so Rhydon would pass without problems. "Use Stomp!"

The gym leader's partner was already very tired from the smoke and his attack was not strong enough. Rhydon hung his head, it was as if he felt sorry for failing his coach. The gym leader approached him and put a hand on one of his sides. He gave him an encouraging smile and Rhydon raised his head again, roaring loudly.

"Do it again", This time the ground jerked.

The stampede attack shook the ground again, which began to crack. When Giovanni heard the creak of concrete giving way. With a swift movement of his hand he returned his Rhydon to the pokeball. The men crashed to the lower deck in a wave of debris. The Team Rocket leader emerged from a mountain of rocks and dust, his body feeling bruised. He felt a throbbing pain on his side, but he ignored it. He opened his eyes, but could not distinguish very well what was around him since his gaze was blurred he only managed to look at strange silhouettes in front of him. He rubbed the palms of his hands over his face and gradually became a little clearer. Then he was able to appreciate the officers standing up, a pair of hands took him by each arm and finished pulling him out of the rubble. He was the first agent to be found and yet another of those who were locked in the supply room.

"Are you okay, boss?"

"Yes, let's go to the exit", he said as he was helped walk.

When the cool air rushing outside the building hit his face he felt like he could breathe normally again. He sucked in air and released it, his lungs feeling heavy and his entire body ached. He looked around for a moment, there were more agents who had managed to get out. Some were lying on the ground. There were many injured. Some had burns, others were bruised and broken, and others seemed fine except for a few scratches.

Giovanni watched as the fire consumed his building and gritted his teeth, visibly annoyed. That damn Leo Cipriani wasn't playing he wanted him dead. Archer approached the crime lord and the agent helping him stand aside to make way for the high-ranking officer.

"You need medical attention, sir", The blue-haired executive helped him walk.

"I don't need a doctor", he said, pulling away from Archer as he staggered still holding onto the other agent. "Just ... listen to me carefully. Take all these people and send them to Celadon, I'll go to the gym"

Those words took the Rocket executive by surprise that he could see that his boss was in no condition to prioritize agents over his own safety.

"But sir, he's in no condition", Giovanni moved, letting the other agent step aside as well, and stood with difficulty.

"Are you going to give me orders?", Asked in the typical harsh tone the boss, he put a hand to his side that was beginning to hurt more strongly.

Archer lowered his head and stayed that way for a moment. The Team Rocket leader smirked. He put a hand on the officer's shoulder.

"I need you to take care of this", he told him calmly.

Archer looked up, his boss was trusting on him this people. He trusted him to take care of them. He nodded confidently and watched as Giovanni began to walk towards the Viridian forest. He knew well that his boss was a man who caused fear and used to be cold and expressionless, but he also knew that he was a faithful man and concerned about his team.

By the time Giovanni got to the gym it was already dark, he walked in through the back door and nearly fell when stepping into it. In his head was Eric's call. His voice choppy and broken. He had a bad feeling about all of that. Giovanni shuffled around the gym. Looking for the box that his friend had left behind. With one of his hands he was holding his right side. He was dizzy and in pain, as he could he climbed the stairs to his office and threw himself on the sofa, where a few months before he had enjoyed an exciting encounter with his wife. Delia, he thought as he closed his eyes. Everything revolved around him and a stabbing pain prevented him from reasoning clearly. He felt something wet run under his shirt. He lifted his hand and watched as his red blood trickled between his fingers.

"Damn it", he exclaimed in a weak voice.

He sat with difficulty in the couch and removed his shirt. He could see the wound on the side of his abdomen, it was not very large, but it seemed deep. He felt how it pulsed and sent electrifying threads all over the area. With his shirt, he put together an improvised bandage and stood up with difficulty and breathing heavily. He went to his desk and rummaged in the bottom drawer among his things for the keys to his car that he rarely used. He shuffled back to his office door. There wasn't much there that Leo Cipriani could want so he didn't give much thought to what he was leaving behind. As he walked to the emergency exit he looked at an old box thrown away as if someone had left it in a hurry. He quickly guessed it was the box Eric was talking about. With much effort he took it in his arms and took it with him.

The bright lights of the Viridian city at night blinded and dull him. He was not able to clearly see what was in front of him. His vision was clouded and he couldn't quite appreciate the colors in the traffic lights or the other cars on the street. He closed his eyes and squeezed them for clarity. His head was drilling into him and he felt like he would pass out. But he couldn't allow it, he had to come. When he left the city and entered Route 1 towards Pueblo Paleta he felt a little better. Still, he felt the wound in his side throb. When he looked at the little white house on the side of the road he knew he was safe. He awkwardly walked to the door and rang the bell. He stayed leaning against the door frame, while he waited, he held on with what little strength he had left. When the door opened and he was able to look at the light coming from within, he knew he could be calm. Then everything was clouded and he passed out falling to the ground.

But at least he was home.


End file.
